Israeli strikes hit near Beirut as envoy says disarming Hezbollah could end war

Israel's military pounded the Lebanese capital's southern suburbs with air strikes on Tuesday and its troops pushed deeper into the country's south, as an Israeli envoy said the key to ending the war was disarming Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.



Lebanon was pulled deep into the war in the Middle East last week, when Iran-backed Hezbollah opened fire on Israel to avenge the killing of Iran's supreme leader.



Israel has since launched air strikes across Lebanon's south, east and Beirut's suburbs, killing nearly 570 people, according to a report by the Lebanese government's disaster risk management unit on Tuesday.



Strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs on Tuesday afternoon sent thick columns of smoke over the city. Two hours before they began, an Israeli military spokesperson ordered residents to leave immediately, specifying three new districts that should be evacuated.



A member of the municipal council for the area told Reuters families there were fleeing, adding to the more than 759,000 that Lebanese authorities say have been displaced by the war.