Foreign ministers from the world's leading industrialized countries threw their strong support Tuesday behind an immediate ceasefire between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah but sidestepped a key question after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Israel's leader over the war in Gaza.

At the end of their two-day summit outside Rome, the Group of Seven ministers didn't refer explicitly to the Hague-based court and its arrest warrants on charges of crimes against humanity for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister, Yoav Gallant.

Waves of strikes pounded Hezbollah's south Beirut stronghold on Tuesday in the most intense raids on the area in two months of full-scale war with Israel — a sign it was aiming to inflict punishment on Hezbollah down to the last moments before any ceasefire takes hold.

Plumes of smoke also rose over Beirut as an Israeli strike targeted a residential building in the center of the capital, without prior warning.

The independent civilian commission of inquiry into the October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel has found Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu directly responsible for the failures leading up to the attack, alongside former defense ministers, the army chief and the heads of the security services.

The civil commission presented its findings today after a four-month probe in which it heard some 120 witnesses. It was set up by relatives of victims of the Hamas attack, in response to the absence of any state probe.

The Israeli military said Tuesday its ground troops have reached parts of Lebanon’s Litani River — a focal point of the emerging ceasefire.

In a statement Tuesday, the army said it had reached the Wadi Slouqi area in southern Lebanon and clashed with Hezbollah forces.

Russia launched 188 drones against most regions of Ukraine in a nighttime blitz, the Ukrainian air force said Tuesday, describing it as a record number of drones deployed in a single attack.

Most of the drones were intercepted, according to the air force, but apartment buildings and critical infrastructure such as the national power grid were damaged. No casualties were immediately reported in the 17 targeted regions.

A senior Israeli officer has resigned following the deaths of two people, including a 70-year-old Israeli man, in a Hezbollah ambush last week in southern Lebanon.

The Israeli military has launched an investigation into last Wednesday’s incident, in which 70-year-old Zeev Erlich was killed along with a 20-year-old soldier.

Israeli warplanes struck buildings in Beirut's suburbs and in the southern city of Tyre Tuesday, as Israel's security Cabinet prepared to vote on a U.S.-brokered ceasefire proposal aimed at ending more than a year of fighting with Hezbollah.

The Israeli army issued airstrike warnings for more than 17 buildings in Haret Hreik, Hadath, Burj al-Barajneh and Ghobeiri.

The European Union's top diplomat said Tuesday there were "no excuses" for Israel to refuse to accept a ceasefire with Hezbollah, saying all its security concerns had been addressed in the U.S.-French-brokered deal.

Josep Borrell, the outgoing EU foreign policy chief, called for increased pressure on Israel to blunt extremists in the government who are refusing to accept the deal. Speaking on the sidelines of a Group of Seven meeting in Italy, Borrell warned that if a ceasefire is not implemented, "Lebanon will fall apart."

Deputy parliament speaker Elias Bou Saab accused Israel of ramping up its bombardment of Lebanon in order to pressure the government to make concessions in indirect ceasefire negotiations with Hezbollah.

Bou Saab said Monday that the pressure has increased because “we are close to the hour that is decisive regarding reaching a ceasefire.”

Iran’s supreme leader has suggested that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should be “sentenced to death” for his role in the ongoing wars in the Gaza Strip against Hamas and in Lebanon.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei made the remarks Monday during an event in which he spoke to members of the Basij, the all-volunteer arm of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.