Israel continues to bomb Lebanon, as Hezbollah and casualties mount, as Netanyahu changes tone on ceasefire.

Lebanon’s first responders raced through the destroyed streets of south Beirut, doing what they could to the injured, including injured children. A young boy injured in recent Israeli airstrikes held up three fingers as he was taken away on a stretcher, after being asked his age.

Israel says it targeted Hezbollah in Lebanon and that it destroyed dozens of Iranian-backed group rockets and other weapons. Dozens of airstrikes hit settlements where Israel says Hezbollah has hidden its weapons. And although Israel says it has warned people to leave those areas, the strikes have killed civilians – including children.

Hezbollah says Israel killed about 30 of its soldiers in strikes last week, but Lebanon’s health ministry says more than 700 people have been killed, including at least 50 children. Reuters news agency reported on Friday that another strike, at night in southern Lebanon, killed nine members of one family, including four children.

More than 100,000 people have fled their homes in Lebanon since Israel began launching successive waves of airstrikes more than a week ago, according to a register kept by the Lebanese government. Lebanese officials say the real number is probably more than half a million.

The United Nations said on Friday that about 30,000 people, mostly Syrians, crossed Lebanon into Syria in the past 72 hours.

The Israeli military said on Friday it carried out several strikes in southern Lebanon, hitting a Hezbollah rocket. Hezbollah said it fired rockets at the Israeli cities of Haifa and Tiberias, which the Israeli Defense Forces said were either blocked or occupied in open areas.

Meanwhile, the Houthi rebels in Yemen, said they fired another missile at Israel overnight, which Israel said was intercepted. The Houthis, like Hezbollah, are supported by Iran and they say they are launching an attack on Israel and its interests in supporting the Palestinians during the Israeli occupation war in the Gaza Strip with Hamas.

Netanyahu’s office wants to “clarify” the stance of the ceasefire

The latest conflict along Israel’s northern border with Lebanon took place after the United Nations Summit in New York, where Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to speak later on Friday. His words are highly anticipated when it comes to conflicting messages from his office regarding a Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire proposal run by the US and France.

Ahead of his speech, Netanyahu’s office wanted to “clarify a few points” in a social media post about Israel’s position on the proposal, which the US and France say has international support.

“Israel shares the goals of the US-led initiative to allow people on our northern border to return safely and securely to their homes,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.

It said the teams met “to discuss the US plan and how we can advance the common goal of returning people home safely. We will continue those discussions in the coming days.”

The prime minister’s speech to “clarify” his situation came hours after his office issued a statement on Thursday saying: “This is a proposal from the United States and France that the Prime Minister has never responded to.”

That statement added to the retraction of a separate report suggesting that Netanyahu had told his troops to “moderate” their attacks on Hezbollah to allow room for negotiations on a ceasefire — a report his office called “untrue.”

“The Prime Minister has ordered the IDF to keep fighting with full strength,” said.

contributed to this report.