The Israeli military, meanwhile, said it had intercepted a "hostile aircraft" that crossed into Israeli territory from Lebanon, the first such report in more than 24 hours.

Israeli officials have warned the military will strike Beirut's southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold, if the Iran-backed group targets north Israel communities, a stance they say has backing from Washington.

Hezbollah said its fighters on Wednesday attacked Israeli troops who have invaded southern Lebanon but did not immediately claim a cross-border attack.

Israeli and Lebanese diplomats are to hold a second day of direct talks in Washington -- the fourth round since the war erupted on March 2.

Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA) said an Israeli strike targeted "a car on the Khaldeh road", at the capital's southern entrance.

An AFP correspondent saw an ambulance in attendance as onlookers gathered at the strike site, located on the main highway heading south from Beirut.

The NNA reported strikes on more than 20 locations in the country's south on Wednesday, some after Israel's military warned residents of several villages to evacuate.

A medical source in south Lebanon's Tyre told AFP that Israeli strikes on Al-Hawsh near the coastal city killed six people -- four Syrians and two Palestinians. The health ministry later confirmed the toll.

On Tuesday, Israel's military alleged that Hezbollah members were operating in Tyre's Christian quarter, warning it would order people to leave should the group remain there.

The picturesque seaside district has so far been spared Israeli evacuation warnings and strikes targeting the rest of the city.

- Petition -

An AFP correspondent said the situation in Tyre was relatively calm on Wednesday morning, adding that some people who had been sleeping in cars or tents at the edge of the Christian quarter left for other parts of the city after the Israeli military statement.

The mayor toured the area late on Tuesday alongside a Lebanese army intelligence officer and a member of the Christian clergy, seeking to reassure residents.

A petition calling for Tyre to be declared an "open city" free of any armed presence and urging Lebanon's army to deploy there has garnered more than 180 signatures, including local lawyers and intellectuals.

The number is significant for an area where Hezbollah has a strong presence and where opposition to the group is rarely voiced publicly.

Some signatories have since been attacked on social media for their stance.

More than 200 people have signed a similar petition concerning Nabatieh, another large south Lebanon city which like Tyre has come under recent Israeli attack.

Wednesday's strikes came after a recent escalation in fighting and Israeli bombardment, as Israeli troops stage their deepest ground offensive into Lebanon in two decades.

On Monday, US President Donald Trump said he had brokered a deal which Lebanon said would at first halt Israeli attacks on Beirut and Hezbollah attacks on Israeli territory, before expanding in scope.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said Tuesday that Israel had established "a new equation" backed by Washington that his country would strike Beirut's southern suburbs if Hezbollah kept firing at Israel.

But senior Hezbollah official Mahmud Qomati told AFP that the group "will not accept a partial ceasefire".

Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the Middle East war with rocket fire at Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iran's supreme leader in US-Israeli strikes.

Tehran this week said Israel's expanding campaign in Lebanon risked ending a weeks-long US-Iran ceasefire.