United Nations peacekeepers in southern Lebanon remain in place - despite Israel asking them to move - and provide the only communications link between the countries' militaries, the U.N. peacekeeping chief said on Thursday.

The United Nations peacekeeping chief says U.N. peacekeepers are staying in their positions on Lebanon’s southern border despite Israel’s request to vacate some areas before it launched its ground ope

Israel and Hezbollah were fighting at close range in southern Lebanon on Wednesday across steep, unforgiving terrain.

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U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin spoke to his Israeli counterpart late on Tuesday, hours after Iran's missile attack on Israel following Israel's military campaign in Lebanon, and said Washington was "well-postured" to defend its interests in the Middle East.

Israel bombed Beirut early on Thursday, killing at least six people, after its forces suffered their deadliest day on the Lebanese front in a year of clashes with Iran-backed Hezbollah. Israel said it had conducted a precise air strike on the Lebanese capital.