Israel struck what it said were Hezbollah arms facilities in southern Beirut Saturday after the Lebanese armed group fired rockets into northern Israel and a spokesman said a drone was launched at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's holiday home.

Netanyahu was not there at the time, and it was not immediately clear if the building was hit.

The strikes came as health officials in Gaza, where Israel has been trying to root out Hamas for more than a year, said Israeli bombardments had killed at least 35 people and a siege around three hospitals had tightened.

Officials, diplomats and other sources say that with US elections approaching, Israel is seeking to use intensified military operations to try to shield its borders and ensure its rivals cannot regroup.

On Saturday, Israeli planes dropped leaflets over southern Gaza with a picture of Sinwar and the message: "Hamas will no longer rule Gaza".

In Beirut's southern suburbs, Israel carried out heavy strikes on several locations, leaving thick plumes of smoke hanging over the city into the evening.

Tens of thousands of people have fled the southern suburbs — once a densely populated zone — since Israel began regular strikes there about three weeks ago.

The US would like to see Israel scale back some of its strikes in and around Beirut, US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said.

Earlier Saturday, an Israeli strike killed two people as they were travelling on Lebanon's main highway near the Christian-majority town of Jounieh. Israel's military said it was looking into the incident.

Another strike killed at least four people in Lebanon's Bekaa valley, health authorities said. One of them was the mayor of a nearby town, the second mayor to be killed this week.

In a series of Hezbollah rocket salvos in Israel, one person was killed and at least nine injured, the Israeli ambulance service said.

There was no immediate comment from Hezbollah on any drone attack targeting Netanyahu's house in the northern Israeli town of Caesarea, which the prime minister said was aimed at killing him and his wife.

The Israeli offensive has made most of Gaza's 2.3mn people homeless, caused widespread hunger and destroyed hospitals and schools.
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