Nine people were killed in an Israeli air raid on a Hezbollah rescue facility in the heart of Beirut late Wednesday, according to the Lebanese health ministry.

The airstrike in the residential Bashoura district targeted an apartment in a multi-story building that houses an office of the Islamic Health Organization, a group of civilian first responders affiliated to Hezbollah.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and former Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat met Wednesday in Ain el-Tineh, as the region braced for further escalation following an Israeli incursion in south Lebanon and Iran’s ballistic missile attack on Israel.

Mikati called after the meeting for an immediate ceasefire, immediate implementation of Resolution 1701, the deployment of the Lebanese army south of Litani and coordination with UNIFIL.

An Israeli strike Wednesday targeted Choueifat, south of Beirut, after a night of repeated strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs.

At least five Israeli strikes hit Beirut's southern suburbs early Wednesday, a Lebanese security source said.

The Israeli military said it launched a fresh strike on south Beirut on Tuesday.

"The IDF (Israeli military) conducted a precise strike in Beirut," the statement said, without offering details, while local media outlets reported simultaneous strikes on an apartment in a building in Jnah near al-Zahraa Hospital, and on another region in Beirut's southern suburbs.

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil on Tuesday said that “through our unity, we can prevent internal strife, as the enemy is not only preparing to occupy our land, but also for internal strife.”

The Israeli army on Tuesday called on the residents of 29 towns in south Lebanon to evacuate to the area north of the Awali River, as it launched what it called a “limited” ground incursion.

It identified the towns as Yaroun, Ain Ebel, Maroun al-Ras, al-Tiri, Hadatha, Aita al-Jabal, Jmeijmeh, Toulin, Deir Aames, Burj Qalaway, al-Bayada, Zebqin, Jbal al-Botm, Srebbine, al-Shaitiyeh, al-Knaysseh, al-Hinniyeh, Maarakeh, al- Ghandouriyeh, Deir Qanoun Malkiyat al-Sahel, Burj al-Shamali, Ebel al-Saqi, Srifa, Deir Qanoun al-Nahr, al-Abbasiyeh, al-Rashidiyeh, Bint Jbeil and Aitaroun.

Israel has informed the United States about limited ground operations targeting Hezbollah infrastructure inside Lebanon, the State Department said Monday.

"I've seen reports about ground operations. We've had some conversations with them about that; they have at this time told us that those are limited operations focused on Hezbollah infrastructure near the border," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told journalists.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri confirmed Monday to Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper that Lebanon is still committed to what was agreed upon with American mediator Amos Hochstein regarding a path that leads to a ceasefire with Israel and the implementation of U.N. resolution 1701.

Berri said he had agreed on a ceasefire initiative with Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed by an Israeli airstrike on Friday, and that the agreement is still "in effect."

The Israeli military said on Monday its forces killed at least two leaders of a left-wing Palestinian armed group, hours after the organization said its members were hit in a strike in central Beirut.

Israeli fighter jets "struck and eliminated the terrorist" Mohammad Abdel-Aal, head of the Lebanon branch of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), the military said in a statement.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Monday strongly hinted that Israel is preparing to launch a ground offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

“The elimination of (Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan) Nasrallah is a very important step, but it is not everything. We will use all the capabilities we have,” Gallant said to troops of the 188th Armored Brigade and Golani Infantry Brigade in northern Israel.