Two security sources said at least six people, including the mayor, were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a municipal building in Nabatieh, the main city in southern Lebanon that is the provincial capital.
Reuters witnesses say at least one Israeli attack hit Beirut's southern suburbs a few hours earlier.
Reuters witnesses heard two explosions and saw plumes of smoke rising from two separate neighborhoods. This came after Israel issued an evacuation order early Wednesday morning that listed only one building.
Guwaida Turk, the governor of Nabatiyeh province, told The Associated Press that Mayor Ahmad Kahil was among the dead.
In recent weeks, the Israeli military has carried out attacks on the southern suburbs of Beirut, a stronghold of Iran-backed Hezbollah, with little or no advance warning for one area while striking more broadly.
The Israeli military said it carried out an attack on Hezbollah's underground weapons depot in Beirut's southern suburb of Dahiyeh.
“Numerous steps were taken prior to the strike to reduce the risk of harm to civilians, including issuing warnings to the population in the area,” the Israeli military said.
Meanwhile, in Cana, the Civil Defense of Lebanon reported that 15 bodies had been recovered from the rubble of a building after the raid and that rescue operations were still ongoing. The Israeli military did not provide direct comment on Tuesday's attacks.
Two weeks after Israel began incursions into the south of the country, which it says are aimed at driving out Hezbollah, Israeli military evacuation orders now cover more than a quarter of Lebanon, according to the U.N. refugee agency.
US and EU express separate concerns about war
Some Western countries are calling for a ceasefire between the two neighbors as well as in Gaza, although the United States says it continues to support Israel and is sending anti-missile systems and troops.
On Tuesday, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the United States had expressed concerns to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's administration about the recent strikes.
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“Regarding the scope and nature of the bombing campaign that we have seen in Beirut over the last few weeks, we have made clear to the Israeli government that we have concerns and what we are opposed to,” he told reporters, adopting a tougher tone than Washington has so far adopted.
Israel has also come under scrutiny due to its contacts with the UN peacekeeping force UNIFIL in southern Lebanon. Since the Israeli ground operation against Hezbollah fighters began on October 1, UNIFIL positions have come under fire and two Israeli tanks broke through the gate of one of its bases, the UN says. Five peacekeepers were injured.
Contributing European Union countries have no intention of withdrawing despite calls from Israel to do so, Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg said.
Sixteen EU countries, including Austria, contribute to UNIFIL, and recent incidents have caused widespread concern among European governments.
Beirut was last hit on October 10, when two strikes near the city center killed 22 people and demolished entire buildings in the densely populated district.
Over 1 million displaced
Meanwhile, the Middle East has been in a difficult situation since Iran attacked Israel with a series of missiles on October 1, following a similar large-scale operation in April. Israel promised retaliation.
Iran's allies in its “Axis of Resistance” to Israeli and US interests – Lebanese Hezbollah, Yemen's Houthis and armed groups in Iraq – have staged attacks in the region to support Hamas in the Gaza war, complicating efforts to ease tensions.
Israel has been turning up the heat on Hezbollah since it launched incursions into Lebanon last month after killing Hezbollah leaders and commanders, including its veteran secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah, dealing the group its biggest blow in decades.
With diplomatic efforts halted, fighting continues.
Israeli strikes in Lebanon over the past year have killed at least 2,350 people, injured nearly 11,000, and displaced more than 1.2 million people, according to the health ministry.
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The death toll does not distinguish between civilians and combatants, but includes hundreds of women and children.
According to Israel, approximately 50 Israelis, both soldiers and civilians, were killed during the same period.
The figures underscore the high price the Lebanese are paying as Israel tries to destroy Hezbollah's infrastructure in its conflict, which resumed a year ago when it began firing rockets at Israel in support of Hamas at the start of the Gaza war.
