Three Palestinian leaders killed in strike in Beirut

A Palestinian militant group said that three of its leaders were killed in an Israeli strike on Beirut, the first attack within city limits asIsrael escalated hostilities against Iran's allies in the region.

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) said the three leaders were killed in a strike that targeted Beirut's Kola district.

The strike hit the upper floor of an apartment building in the Kola district of Lebanon's capital, witnesses said.

There was no immediate comment from Israel's military.

Israel's increasing frequency of attacks against the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon and the Houthi militia in Yemen have prompted fears that Middle East fighting could spin out of control and draw in Iran and the United States, Israel's main ally.

The PFLP is another militant group taking part in the fight against Israel.

Israel launched airstrikes against the Houthi militia in Yemen and dozens of Hezbollah targets throughout Lebanon after earlier killing the Hezbollah leader.

The Houthi-run health ministry said at least four people were killed and 29 wounded in airstrikes on Yemen's port of Hodeidah, which Israel said were a response to Houthi missile attacks.

Read more about the conflict in the Middle East

In Lebanon, authorities said at least 105 people had been killed by Israeli airstrikes.

Lebanon's Health Ministry has said more than 1,000 Lebanese have been killed and 6,000 wounded in the past two weeks,without saying how many were civilians.

The government said a million people, a fifth of the population, have fled their homes.

The intensifying Israeli bombardment over two weeks has killed a string of top Hezbollah officials, including its leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.

Israel has vowed to keep up the assault and says it wants to make its northern areas secure again for residents who have been forced to flee Hezbollah rocket attacks.

Israeli drones hovered over Beirut, with the loud blasts of new airstrikes echoing around the Lebanese capital.

Many of Israel's attacks have been carried out in the south of Lebanon, where the Iran-backed Hezbollah has most of its operations, or Beirut's southern suburbs.

The attack in the Kola district appeared to be the first strike within Beirut's city limits.

The United States has urged a diplomatic resolution to the conflict in Lebanon but has also authorised its military to reinforce in the region.

US President Joe Biden, asked if an all-out war in the Middle East could be avoided, said "It has to be."

Mr Biden said he will be talking to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.