The prestigious Bayeux War Correspondents' Awards on Saturday honoured reporters from Agence France-Presse, the BBC and others documenting conflict and strife around the world.

AFP photographer Mahmud Hams won the top prize for photos including his harrowing image of a woman crying during a search for victims after an Israeli strike on Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip on October 17, 2023.

The picture was captured just days after the Gaza war erupted after the attack by Hamas militants against Israel on October 7, 2023, which resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people.

As Israel undertakes its fourth ground offensive in southern Lebanon in 50 years, its troops again face rocky terrain mined with explosives and full of hiding places that previous generations of soldiers have battled over.

After pounding Gaza for nearly a year, Israeli forces began "targeted" ground raids on September 30 intended to push back Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon who have been bombarding northern Israel over the last year.

UN peacekeepers in south Lebanon will not move from the border area despite five of their members being wounded and damage to facilities during the Israel-Hezbollah war, their spokesperson told AFP on Saturday.

Andrea Tenenti, spokesperson for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), also said that an Israeli escalation against Lebanese militants Hezbollah in past weeks risked turning into "a regional conflict with catastrophic impact for everyone", and that the only solution was "diplomatic".

Lebanon's health ministry said Israeli strikes on three villages outside traditional Hezbollah strongholds had killed at least 15 people Saturday, as state media reported further strikes elsewhere.

An "Israeli enemy strike on Maaysra", a Shiite Muslim majority village in a mostly Christian mountain area north of Beirut, left "nine dead and 15 wounded", the ministry said in a statement, updating an earlier toll.

Iran's parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf on Saturday denounced Israel's "crimes" as he visited the site of the deadliest Israeli strikes on central Beirut in recent weeks, an AFP photographer said.

A source close to Hezbollah had said Thursday night's strikes in the densely populated Basta neighbourhood and the nearby Nweiri district had targeted the Iran-backed Lebanese group's security chief Wafiq Safa.

UN peacekeepers in Lebanon warned Saturday against a "catastrophic" regional conflict as Israeli forces battled Hezbollah and Hamas militants on two fronts, on the holiest day of the Jewish calendar.

Israel has faced a fierce diplomatic backlash over the injuries suffered by five Blue Helmets serving in south Lebanon.

Lebanon's health ministry said Saturday that Israeli air strikes on three sites had killed at least 15 people, raising an earlier toll.

Israel observed Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, on Saturday amid a firestorm of international criticism over its military offensive in Lebanon and its soldiers firing on peacekeepers.

As the holy day got under way Friday from sundown, Israel faced diplomatic backlash over what it acknowledged was a "hit" earlier in the day on a United Nations peacekeeping position in Lebanon.

Two Sri Lankan peacekeepers were hurt in the second such incident in two days, the UNIFIL mission said Friday.

A US soldier who pleaded guilty to trying to provide information to the Islamic State group to help it attack American troops in the Middle East was sentenced to 14 years in prison on Friday.

Cole Bridges, 24, pleaded guilty in June of last year to attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization and attempting to murder US military service members.

Bridges, a private first class from Ohio, was sentenced to 14 years in prison on Friday and 10 years of supervised release, the Justice Department said in a statement.

Leaders from nine European countries around the Mediterranean Sea on Friday called at a summit in Cyprus for an end to fighting in Gaza and Lebanon.

French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni condemned as "unacceptable" Israeli firing on UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon, a stance echoed by Spain's prime minister.

The three countries together have around 2,000 troops in the UNIFIL mission, which said Israeli tank fire led to the injury of two of its peacekeepers on Thursday.

UN peacekeepers in Lebanon on Friday warned of "very serious risks" for their Blue Helmets after explosions wounded two mission members near the Israeli border, the second such incident in two days.

The Israeli military said its forces on Friday fired at a threat near a UN peacekeeping mission position.

Israel and Hezbollah have been clashing in south Lebanon since last week when Israel announced "targeted" incursions into Lebanon against the Lebanese militant group, which is backed by Iran.