Lebanon's health ministry said on Sunday that Israeli strikes had killed 1,238 people in the country since the start of the latest war with Hezbollah on March 2.

Iran's ambassador will not leave Lebanon despite being declared persona non grata and ordered to leave the country by Sunday, an Iranian diplomatic source told AFP.

"The ambassador will not leave Lebanon, in accordance with the wishes of the speaker of parliament Nabih Berri and of Hezbollah," the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The American University of Beirut on Sunday said it would operate remotely over the next two days, following the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' threat to target U.S. universities in the region.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot condemned the killing of three journalists in an Israeli airstrike in Lebanon, stressing that journalists should "never" be targeted in conflict zones.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that he had ordered the military to “further expand” a security zone in Lebanon as Israel continues its campaign in the neighboring country.

“In Lebanon, I have just ordered the military to further expand the existing security zone,” Netanyahu said in a video statement.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Sunday condemned Israel's killing of three journalists in Lebanon the day before.

The Israeli army announced on Sunday the death in combat of a soldier in south Lebanon.

Iran's parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said Sunday that the United States was plotting a ground attack despite publicly engaging in diplomatic efforts aimed at ending the war.

"The enemy publicly sends messages of negotiation and dialogue while secretly planning a ground attack," Ghalibaf said in a statement carried by the official IRNA news agency.

Israeli warplanes broke the sound barrier over Beirut and several areas on Saturday night, state media reported, as residents heard loud booms reverberate across the city and in the mountains.

Lebanese Health Minister Rakan Nassereddine said Saturday that 46 rescuers and five medical staff had been killed by Israel since the start of the war with Hezbollah on March 2.