BEIRUT, Lebanon, March 12, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Israel pounded Beirut's southern suburbs late Wednesday night, while militant group Hezbollah fired rockets and missiles at northern Israel in a new operation, as the death toll in Lebanon climbed past 630.

Earlier on Wednesday, Israel had struck the heart of the capital for a second time since the country became a front in the wider conflict roiling the Middle East.

In New York, senior UN officials and member states called for an end to fighting in Lebanon, which was dragged into the war last week when Hezbollah attacked Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Israel, which had kept up strikes in Lebanon even before the war despite a 2024 ceasefire with Iran-backed Hezbollah, has since launched air raids across the country and sent ground troops into border areas -- an offensive that has killed 634 people, including 91 children, according to authorities.

The Israeli military said late Wednesday that it had launched a new wave of strikes on Hezbollah targets in south Beirut -- a stronghold of the Iran-backed group -- vowing to act with "great force" there after the military reported rocket fire from Hezbollah towards Israel.

AFP correspondents reported hearing the blasts across the city, while AFPTV showed large explosions and smoke covering the southern suburbs, and the state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported a series of heavy strikes in the area.

Hezbollah said it launched drones, dozens of rockets and volleys of advanced missiles at northern Israel as part of a new operation, including at the headquarters of the Israeli military's northern command and other bases.

Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee on X vowed a severe response to the new attacks.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said in a late-night statement carried by the Fars news agency that they had carried out a "joint and integrated operation" with Hezbollah involving launches from both countries towards targets in Israel.

- 'Who do I blame?' -

Earlier Wednesday, the NNA said "the enemy targeted an apartment in the Aisha Bakkar area" in central Beirut, a densely populated neighbourhood close to one of the city's biggest shopping malls.

AFPTV's live broadcast captured a fireball erupting in an apartment in a multi-storey residential building.

An AFP correspondent saw destroyed walls on the building's seventh and eighth floors, with damaged cars nearby and security forces attending the scene.

When the strike hit, "I ran from room to room, pulled my wife and daughter out of the rooms and hid them behind a wall, then the second strike hit", said Fawzi Asmar, owner of a bakery on the same street.

Samer Knio, a civil defence paramedic, said glass and debris fell on his team as they were evacuating casualties "but God protected us".

Lebanese authorities said Wednesday that about 816,000 people had been registered as displaced, with around 126,000 staying in collective shelters.

Some residents fear being caught in Israeli air raids targeting people sheltering nearby.

"We don't know who they're targeting. Maybe someone related to something, maybe not," Amal Hisham, 46, said.

"Who do I blame? Who do I not blame?"

The health ministry said four people were wounded in the apartment strike -- the second in central Beirut after Israel hit a seafront hotel days ago, saying it was targeting Iranian foreign operations officers.

Iran later said the raid killed four of its diplomats.

- 'Rapid security developments' -

Israeli air raids also pounded southern and eastern Lebanon on Wednesday, with the NNA reporting strikes in several areas.

A strike on the village of Chaat in the Baalbek district "killed eight people", the health ministry said, also reporting another eight people killed in a strike on the eastern town of Tamnin al-Tahta, with Syrian state media saying a Syrian family was killed there.

The ministry previously said eight people were killed in a strike in the southeastern Bint Jbeil district, with NNA reporting the toll included five members of one family.

In New York, senior UN officials and member states called for an end to fighting in Lebanon at a Security Council meeting.

Israel's UN envoy Danny Danon said Israeli forces would continue to operate in Lebanon "as long (as) there will be a threat against us".