An Israeli strike on an office building in the southern city of Sidon killed five people and wounded seven, the Lebanese health ministry said Friday, as Israel presses attacks on Lebanon's south, east, and in Beirut's southern suburbs.

The strike targeted the tenth floor of an office building near two shelters for displaced people and a Lebanese Red Cross center, an AFP photographer said.

Israel launched a series of strikes on the southern suburbs of Beirut Thursday after ordering all residents of the densely populated area to evacuate.

French President Emmanuel Macron said Thursday "everything" must be done to prevent Lebanon "from once again being drawn into war", urging both Israel and Hezbollah to halt military operations.

An expanded extraordinary meeting of the General Assembly of the Druze Religious Council was held Thursday at the Druze Community Center in Beirut, at the invitation of Druze spiritual leader Sheikh Akl Sami Abi al-Muna, and in the presence of former Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat, along with political, social, and religious figures.

A phone call took place Thursday between French President Emmanuel Macron and Speaker Nabih Berri, during which they discussed "the dire situation resulting from the Israeli aggression against Lebanon and the recent developments in Beirut's southern suburbs, including the displacement of its residents," Berri's office said.

Hezbollah targeted Thursday Israeli bases in the Galilee Panhandle and in the Kfarshouba Heights, as Israel struck several villages in south Lebanon including Toul, Maarakeh, Touline, Zawtar, Kfar Remman, Habboush, Kfar Tebnit, Arnoun, al-Kfour, Harouf, Kounine and Loueizeh.

The Iran-backed group said it targeted military bases in the Galilee Panhandle with a salvo of rockets, and later claimed an attack on the Israeli Rweissat al-Alam base in the Kfarshouba Heights.

Israel carried out strikes on Dahieh and South and east Lebanon Thursday, while Lebanese state media reported an Israeli drone strike killed a Hamas official in Tripoli's Beddawi.

Two people were also killed in an Israeli strike on the Zahle highway Thursday.

The deputy head of Hezbollah’s political council, Mahmoud Qmati, on Tuesday issued a statement addressed to the residents of south Lebanon, saying that Hezbollah had maintained its “patience” after the 2024 ceasefire agreement for “their sake” and to “avert aggression,” hoping that the state would “achieve a positive outcome through its diplomatic efforts.”

"We have repeatedly stated that patience has its limits and sent messages that we can no longer tolerate the killing of our citizens and youth and the destruction of our homes, yet we were accused of weakness,” Qmati said.

Loud explosions were heard in Beirut on Monday evening, as Lebanese state media reported strikes on the capital's southern suburbs after the Israeli military said it struck 70 Hezbollah targets.

AFP journalists heard loud blasts in the city. The state-run National News Agency said "enemy warplanes launched new raids on the southern suburbs".

Free Patriotic Movement leader Jebran Bassil on Monday warned against another “support war” in Lebanon, after Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel drawing massive Israeli retaliation.

“We warned against a war to support Gaza because it would only bring ruin to Lebanon and to those who waged it, and it would not be able to save Gaza, and so it was! We warn again against a war to support Iran because it will bring us more ruin without saving Iran. Neutralize Lebanon and leave it as a homeland for the Lebanese. It is not at the service of Iran or Israel,” Bassil said in a post on X.