Israel has stepped up strikes on the city’s southern suburbs in recent days, an area Israeli officials say hosts Hezbollah militants and infrastructure.

By Riham Alkousaa and Ari Rabinovitch BEIRUT/JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Diplomacy aimed at securing a ceasefire in Lebanon showed tentative signs of progress on Thursday as Israel pounded its northern neighbour including heavy airstrikes on the stronghold of armed group Hezbollah near Beirut.

Fresh Israeli airstrikes hit Beirut's southern suburbs late Friday following a heavy bombardment in the morning. A dpa reporter said there were at least three explosions and that black smoke rose over the Ghobeiry area.

Lebanon's caretaker prime minister on Friday asked Iran to help secure a cease-fire in the war between Israel and Hezbollah and appeared to urge it to convince the militant group to agree to a deal that could require it to pull back from the Israel-Lebanon border.

Iran will back any decision taken by Lebanon in talks to secure a cease-fire with Israel, a senior Iranian official said on Friday, signalling Tehran wants to see an end to a conflict that has dealt heavy blows to its Lebanese ally Hezbollah.

A top Iranian official has held talks with Lebanese leaders on the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah, which came as the United States is actively pushing both sides to agree to a new cease-fire

Israel and France squared off in a soccer match at Paris' Stade de France on Thursday night as hundreds of protesters gathered nearby amid heightened tensions in Europe over Israel’s deadly assault on the Gaza Strip and Lebanon.

There was a brief altercation between a small number of fans early into Thursday's Nations League soccer game between France and Israel despite heavy security inside the stadium, a week after violence erupted in Amsterdam in connection with an Israeli club team’s visit.

Some 4,000 security forces were deployed to keep the peace in Paris as Israel's national soccer team faces France a week after antisemitic attacks in Amsterdam.