Lebanese families displaced from villages farther south slept in shelters hastily set up in schools in Beirut and the coastal city of Sidon. Some who did not find shelter elsewhere slept in cars and parks and on the seaside corniche.

Monday’s heavy bombardment sent thousands fleeing from south Lebanon. Hotels in Beirut were quickly booked to capacity and apartments in the mountains surrounding the capital were snapped up by families seeking safe accommodations.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani has called for an urgent meeting of Arab leaders on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly after Israel intensified its strikes on Lebanon.

Iraq "calls on and works to convene an urgent meeting of the leaders of Arab delegations... to review the repercussions of the Zionist (Israeli) aggression on our peaceful people in Lebanon and to work jointly to stop its criminal behavior", Sudani said in a statement on Monday.

France has requested an emergency U.N. Security Council meeting to discuss Lebanon after Israel launched a major cross-border attack following nearly a year of clashes with Hezbollah.

"I have requested that an emergency meeting of the Security Council be held on Lebanon this week," French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told the United Nations General Assembly on Monday, calling on all sides to "avoid a regional conflagration that would be devastating for everyone," especially civilians.

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tuesday that its ally Hezbollah "cannot stand alone" against Israel, which killed nearly 500 people in Lebanon the previous day in its deadliest bombardment since 2006.

"Hebzollah cannot stand alone against a country that is being defended and supported and supplied by Western countries, by European countries and the United States," Pezeshkian said in an interview with CNN translated from Farsi to English.

G7 nations have warned that "no country stands to gain from a further escalation in the Middle East," as world leaders gathered in New York for the annual U.N. General Assembly.

The relentless exchanges of fire between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah of recent days have stoked fears the longtime foes are moving inexorably towards all-out war, despite international appeals for restraint.

AFP correspondents in Jerusalem and Beirut talked to officials and analysts who told them what the opposing sides hope to achieve by ramping up their attacks and whether there is any way out.

Qatar Airways and flydubai suspended flights to Beirut for two days on Tuesday as tensions escalated between Israel and Hezbollah after the deadliest bombardment of Lebanon since 2006.

Qatar Airways, the national flag-carrier which operates two flights a day to the Lebanese capital, cancelled services on Tuesday and Wednesday.

China's foreign ministry said on Tuesday it was "deeply shocked" by Israel's air strikes on Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon after 492 people were killed in the deadliest bombardment since a devastating war in 2006.

"China... is deeply shocked by the relevant military actions that have caused large numbers of casualties," foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said in response to a question about Israel's strikes.

Hezbollah attacked Tuesday Kiryat Shmona in northern Israel with a salvo of rockets, "in defense of Lebanon," after the Israeli military hit dozens of targets in several areas of southern Lebanon overnight.

Hezbollah also fired overnight volleys of Fadi-1 and Fadi-2 rockets at the Megiddo military airport west of Israel's Afula, the Ramat David air base near Haifa, the Amos logistic base and the Zikhron explosives factory, 60 kilometers from the border.

Israeli air strikes on Lebanon killed at least 558 people on Monday, including 50 children, the health ministry said, marking the deadliest day of cross-border violence since the Gaza war began.

Arab states strongly condemned Israel for the escalating hostilities with Hezbollah, which have intensified to levels unseen in nearly a year.