Women and children confirmed among dead, as US and UN officials warn against further escalation

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Three children and seven women were among 37 people killed by an Israeli strike on Beirut that targeted a top Hezbollah leader in a densely populated neighbourhood, Lebanese authorities have said, as US and UN officials warned against further escalation.

On Saturday, Israel closed its northern airspace as it awaited Hezbollah retaliation for the assassination of Ibrahim Aqil, a veteran commander of the elite Radwan unit, along with more than a dozen other militants. On Saturday afternoon, fires broke out after a barrage of rockets from Lebanon.