In a letter Friday to the Israeli military’s chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, mothers of soldiers called for an end to the further ground offensive into Lebanon.

The group, Parents of Combat Soldiers, includes 600 military parents. The letter said the military was receiving orders from politicians who are ready to “sacrifice” its children, and urged Zamir to focus on a political solution. “Four soldiers have already been killed in Lebanon, how many more will sacrifice their lives in vain?!” said the letter.

The Israeli army shelled Friday al-Naqoura, al-Bayyada and Shamaa in south Lebanon with white phosphorus bombs after Hezbollah claimed attacks against troops trying to advance there.

The troops were advancing from Deir al-Seryan toward Al-Qussair, media reports said, while Hezbollah claimed attacks on troops and tanks in Naqoura, Qantara, Deir al-Seryan, al-Taybeh, Khiam, al-Bayyada, al-Qawzah, Beit Leef and Debel.

The Israeli military said on Thursday it requires additional troops for deployment in southern Lebanon, where forces are engaged in fighting Hezbollah as part of efforts to establish a buffer zone.

"On the Lebanese front, the forward defensive zone that we are creating requires additional IDF forces," military spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin said in a televised briefing, noting that the military is operating simultaneously across multiple fronts, including the West Bank, Gaza and Syria.

An Israeli strike hit Beirut’s southern suburbs early Friday, killing two people, according to the health ministry.

AFPTV footage showed smoke billowing from the area after the raid.

Hezbollah on Thursday again denied it had any presence in Kuwait, a day after the Gulf country announced more arrests of people allegedly linked to the Iran-backed group.

"For the third time, Hezbollah reiterates its complete denial of the accusations" made by Kuwait's interior ministry, the group said in a statement.

The Israeli army announced the death in combat on Thursday of a soldier in south Lebanon, just hours after reporting another death from its ranks.

Lebanon will file a complaint with the U.N. Security Council over Israel's attacks in the country, the prime minister said Thursday, as Israel continues to strike as part of a war against Hezbollah.

Hezbollah said Thursday it had targeted a defense ministry complex in Tel Aviv, as well as other military objectives in northern Israel.

Israeli emergency services said a rocket fired from Lebanon killed a man and seriously wounded another in Nahariya in northern Israel on Thursday.

Lebanese authorities on Thursday released Al-Manar journalist Ali Berro on bail after three weeks of detention on charges of insulting the Lebanese president and army and inciting sectarian strife.

Authorities had arrested Berro for comments on President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, and he had failed to appear for questioning three times over accusations that included insulting Salam.

Ministers from Hezbollah and its ally Amal boycotted a cabinet session on Thursday in protest over the government declaring the Iranian ambassador persona non grata.

The two Shia parties have a combined four ministers, with one independent Shia also represented in the cabinet present at the meeting, as the spat over the Iranian diplomat's expulsion escalated.