Beijing said on Thursday that Lebanon's sovereignty "should not be violated" after Israel carried out strikes on the country, threatening a fragile truce.

"Lebanon's sovereignty and security should not be violated," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said at a regular press conference.

"The safety of civilian lives and property must be guaranteed," she said, adding that Beijing is urging restraint and "a cooling down of the regional situation".

The ministry's call came as Lebanese rescuers searched for survivors under the rubble of destroyed buildings in Beirut on Thursday and as Lebanon observed a day of mourning after Israeli strikes across the country killed more than 200.

The Israeli military carried out further strikes in southern Lebanon, killing at least five people in Abassiyeh, a village near Tyre, according to the civil defence agency.

Israel's simultaneous strikes on Wednesday, carried out without warning and targeting the heart of Beirut and several other regions of Lebanon, killed at least 203 people and wounded 890, according to the most recent toll from the health ministry.

Hezbollah, for its part, announced that it had fired rockets at northern Israel overnight in response to what it called "the enemy's violation of the ceasefire".

"This response will continue until the Israeli-American aggression against our country and our people stops," Hezbollah said.

It was the first action announced by the Iran-backed armed group since the announcement of a ceasefire between Iran and the United States a day prior.

In the Lebanese capital, rescue workers were still combing the rubble of two buildings hit in residential neighbourhoods, according to journalists.

An Israeli strike early on Wednesday targeted Beirut's southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold from which most residents have fled after more than a month of war.

A photographer saw one building in the area completely blown apart and another half destroyed in the Chiyah neighbourhood, on the outskirts of the southern suburbs.

In the south of Lebanon, Israel struck near a strategic bridge three times between Wednesday and Thursday, partially blocking it, according to a photographer on the scene.

The Lebanese army had earlier closed the bridge after an "Israeli threat to target it".

It is the last bridge linking the north and south sides of the Litani River in the Tyre region, where thousands of families have remained despite evacuation warnings issued by Israel. (AFP)



Edited by Thomas McAlinden