Biden warns against 'full-scale war' over Lebanon

UNITED NATIONS, Sept 24 (AFP/Reuters): US President Joe Biden asked world leaders Tuesday to prevent "full-scale war" over Lebanon, as clashes escalated between Israel and Hezbollah, prompting the UN chief to warn of a situation "on the brink."

The UN General Assembly, the high point of the diplomatic calendar, comes as Lebanese authorities say Israeli strikes killed 558 people -- 50 of them children.

"Full-scale war is not in anyone's interest. Even though the situation has escalated, a diplomatic solution is still possible," Biden said in his farewell address to the global body.

"In fact, it remains the only path to lasting security to allow the residents from both countries to return to their homes on the border safely," Biden said.

Biden also pushed again for an elusive ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, telling the global body it was time to "end this war."

UN Security Council member France called for an emergency meeting on the crisis, and the EU's top diplomat Josep Borrell warned "we are almost in a full-fledged war."

"We should all be alarmed by the escalation. Lebanon is at the brink," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said.

President Masoud Pezeshkian of Iran-which backs both Hezbollah and Hamas-condemned the "senseless and incomprehensible" inaction by the UN against Israel, as Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Israel of dragging the entire region "into war".

Israeli strikes kill 15

more in Lebanon

Lebanon said 15 people were killed in Israeli strikes on Wednesday, including two rare strikes in mountain areas outside Hezbollah's traditional strongholds in the south and east.

The health ministry said an Israeli strike on the village of Joun in the Chouf mountains, southeast of Beirut, killed four people.

Another Israeli strike killed three people in Maaysra-a Shiite-majority village in a mostly Christian mountain area about 25 kilometres (15 miles) north of Beirut.

Eight people were killed in Israeli strikes in the south, the ministry said.

Earlier, a Lebanese security official had told AFP "an Israeli strike targeted a house in the village of Maaysra", requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.

A resident said the strike hit her village, destroying a house and a cafe.

Lebanon's National News Agency reported that "two rockets fell in Maaysra".

The Israeli military said it was carrying out "extensive" air strikes in south Lebanon and the eastern Beqaa Valley after Hezbollah fired a ballistic missile that reached the central Israeli city of Tel Aviv for the first time before being intercepted.

Hezbollah fires rocket targeting

Mossad base near Tel Aviv

Lebanon's Hezbollah said its fighters had fired a rocket targeting the Mossad spy agency headquarters near Tel Aviv on Wednesday, an escalation in the conflict with Israel that moved the arch-foes closer to full-fledged war.

The Israeli military said a single surface-to-surface missile was intercepted by air defence systems after it was detected crossing from Lebanon. Warning sirens sounded in Tel Aviv, Israel's economic capital.

There were no reports of damage or casualties and the military said there was no change to civil defence instructions for central Israel.

Israeli military spokesman Nadav Shoshani said he could not confirm what Hezbollah's target was when it fired the missile from a village in Lebanon.