Israel and Hezbollah indicated that they were clashing deeper inside Lebanese territory. An escalation in the fighting could undermine efforts to reach a cease-fire.

An Israeli minister indicated that a ceasefire was closer than at any point since the war began, though he said a sticking point was ensuring Israel retains freedom to act inside Lebanon should any deal be violated.

A building in Beirut's southern suburbs collapsed in a gigantic cloud of smoke and dust, an AFP photographer reported, as two strikes attributed to Israel hit the Hezbollah bastion on Friday. Later in the morning,

He appeared to be urging it to press the militant group, a close ally of Iran, to agree to a deal that could require it to pull back from the Israel-Lebanon border.

A senior adviser to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei met Lebanese officials in Beirut Friday, the third high-profile Iranian solidarity visit since the Israel-Hezbollah war began in September.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei’s aide met Lebanon’s caretaker Najib Mikati in Beirut where he said that Iran will support Hezbollah’s “resistance” under all circumstances