Lebanon's health ministry said at least eight people were killed and 25 others wounded Sunday in an Israeli strike near the southern city of Sidon, where an AFP correspondent said a building was targeted.

The strike hit a densely-populated area in a Sidon suburb that saw an influx of families displaced from areas further south.

It was the first strike there since the Israel-Hezbollah war erupted last month.

"The Israeli enemy's raid on Haret Saida resulted in a... toll of eight killed," the health ministry said, revising an earlier toll of two dead.

Since war erupted between Israel and Hezbollah, the famed Palmyra Hotel in east Lebanon's Baalbek has been without visitors, but long-time employee Rabih Salika refuses to leave -- even as bombs drop nearby.

The hotel, which was built in 1874, once welcomed renowned guests including former French President Charles de Gaulle and American singer Nina Simone.

Overlooking a large archaeological complex encompassing the ruins of an ancient Roman town, the Palmyra has kept its doors open through several conflicts and years of economic collapse.

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant warned Sunday that "painful concessions" would be needed to secure the release of hostages held in Gaza and that military action alone will not achieve the country's war aims.

"Not all objectives can be achieved through military operations alone... to realise our moral duty to bring our hostages home, we will have to make painful concessions," Gallant said, in a speech marking the Hebrew calendar anniversary of the Hamas attack on October 7 last year.

Israel bombarded Hezbollah and Hamas targets in Lebanon and Gaza on Sunday, with no respite in the conflict one day after its strikes on Iran raised fears of a broader war.

The Israeli military said it had killed 70 Hezbollah fighters and struck 120 targets in southern Lebanon and carried out "precision strikes" on weapons factories and storage facilities in the Iran-backed group's southern Beirut stronghold over the past day.

A driver rammed his truck into a crowd of people at a bus stop in central Israel on Sunday, killing a man and injuring more than two dozen people, medics and police said.

Police did not immediately say whether the incident, near the Mossad spy agency's headquarters and other Israeli intelligence sites, was an attack or an accident.

In a separate incident, Israeli soldiers killed a man the military said tried to stab them during a "counterterrorism" operation near Jerusalem, describing it as a "terror attack" against troops.

The commander of a Kurdish-led force in Syria denied links to a deadly attack near Ankara claimed by Kurdish PKK militants, after Turkish strikes on Kurd-held Syria killed more than a dozen people in retaliation.

Turkey carried out air strikes against targets linked to Kurdish militants in Iraq and Syria after Wednesday's shooting and suicide attack that killed five people at a defence firm near the Turkish capital.

In Morocco's southeastern desert, a rare downpour has brought lakes and ponds back to life, with locals -- and tourists -- hailing it as a gift from the heavens.

In Merzouga, an attractive tourist town some 600 kilometres (370 miles) southeast of the capital Rabat, the once-parched golden dunes are now dotted with replenished ponds and lakes.

"We're incredibly happy about the recent rains," said Youssef Ait Chiga, a local tour guide leading a group of German tourists to Yasmina Lake nestled amidst Merzouga's dunes.

With the US presidential election heading into the home stretch, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will likely be hoping for Donald Trump to return to the White House.

Trump's last time in office was good for Netanyahu, and in the lead-up to the November 5 vote, the former president has sent mixed messages on his Middle East policy.

The World Health Organization chief warned Saturday of a disastrous situation in the north of war-ravaged Gaza, with "intensive military operations unfolding around and within healthcare facilities".

"The situation in northern Gaza is catastrophic," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X, warning that "a critical shortage of medical supplies, compounded by severely limited access, are depriving people of life saving care."

He highlighted Kamal Adwan, northern Gaza's last functioning hospital, which was stormed by Israeli forces on Friday, according to Gaza's health ministry.

Iran warned on Saturday it would defend itself after Israeli air strikes killed at least four soldiers and further stoked fears of a full-scale war in the Middle East.

Israel warned Iran would "pay a heavy price" if it responded to the strikes, and the United States, Germany and Britain demanded Tehran not escalate the conflict further.

US President Joe Biden said he hoped "this is the end" after the pre-dawn Israeli strikes, noting that "it looks like they didn't hit anything other than military targets".