Ahead of the talks on Thursday, Israel called on the Lebanese government to "work together" with it against Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.

The two governments, which do not have diplomatic relations with each other, are set to hold a second round of talks under US auspices on Thursday, in a bid to end more than six weeks of war between Israel and Hezbollah that began on March 2.

Lebanon will request a one-month extension of the ceasefire during the meeting with Israel, a Lebanese official told AFP.

"Lebanon will request an extension of the truce for one month, an end of Israel's bombing and destruction in the areas where it is present, and a commitment to the ceasefire," the Lebanese official told AFP, on condition of anonymity given the sensitive nature of the talks.

The 10-day ceasefire, which expires Sunday, was announced after an initial meeting last week.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, for his part, said Wednesday that "contacts are underway to extend the ceasefire period".

- 'Serious disagreements' -

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Wednesday that Israel does not have any "serious disagreements" with Lebanon.

"Unfortunately, Lebanon is a failed state, a state that is de facto under Iranian occupation through Hezbollah," he said.

Hezbollah, which is represented in the Lebanese cabinet and parliament, strongly opposes the direct talks with Israel pushed by Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam.

A Hezbollah lawmaker, however, told AFP on Monday that the group might accept indirect talks mediated by the United States.

"The obstacle to peace and normalisation between the (two) countries is one -- Hezbollah," said Saar.

Despite the truce, Israel is continuing its strikes in Lebanon, where four people were killed in the south and east, according to state media.

Israeli attacks on Lebanon have killed at least 2,454 people since the start of the war, according to Lebanese authorities.

On Wednesday, the state's scientific research council estimated that more than 50,000 housing units had been damaged or destroyed by the war.

Israeli forces remain in dozens of southern villages, behind what the army has called a "Yellow Line", described by the Israelis as a 10-kilometre (six-mile) deep "security zone" along the border in southern Lebanon.

An Israeli strike wounded journalists Amal Khalil and Zeinab Faraj on Wednesday, according to their employer, Lebanese daily newspaper Al-Akhbar.

The health ministry said Faraj was transported to hospital and that rescuers were still trying to reach Khalil late Wednesday.

The Israeli army said in a statement it had "identified two vehicles in southern Lebanon that had departed from a military structure used by Hezbollah".

"After identifying the individuals as violating the ceasefire understandings and posing an imminent threat, the Israeli Air Force struck one of the vehicles. Subsequently, the structure from which the individuals had fled was also struck."

Hezbollah issued four statements on Wednesday saying it had struck Israeli targets in south Lebanon, "in response to the Israeli enemy's violation of the ceasefire".

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday that a second French soldier died "of the consequences of his wounds" suffered in a weekend ambush against UN peacekeepers in Lebanon blamed on Hezbollah, which has denied responsibility.