By Alexander Cornwell and Maya Gebeily TEL AVIV/BEIRUT, March 13 (Reuters) - Israel destroyed a bridge in southern Lebanon on Friday and dropped leaflets in Beirut threatening Gaza-scale devastation as it deployed more troops to fight Iran-backed Hezbollah and warned of more attacks on the country's infrastructure.

On Friday, two loud booms echoed in Beirut before Israeli leaflets started raining down on residents, spreading captions that evoke Israel's ongoing offensive in Gaza and urge Lebanese residents to share information with Israeli intelligence.

A relative tells BBC those killed were civilians and not Hezbollah operatives, but the Israel Defence Forces says it was targeting "terrorist infrastructure".

By Maayan Lubell and Nazih Osseiran JERUSALEM/BEIRUT March 14 (Reuters) - Israel and Lebanon are expected to hold direct talks in the coming days, Israel's Haaretz newspaper reported on Saturday, in what would be a diplomatic milestone between the two states as Israel and the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah wage war.

A humanitarian crisis is looming in Lebanon where more than 750,000 people have been displaced since the U.S. and Israel began their war with Iran.

When Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel, it granted Israel the opening it was waiting for. It’s now seeking to end Hezbollah’s ability to rain rockets down on Israeli communities for good.

By Maya Gebeily BEIRUT, March 13 (Reuters) - Israel has rebuffed a historic offer of direct talks from Lebanon, deeming it too little too late from a government that shares its goal of disarming Hezbollah but cannot act against the heavily armed Lebanese group without risking a civil war.

Almost two weeks into the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran, the conflict in Lebanon is quickly escalating and expanding into more regions of the country. It began after the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah fired rockets into Israel,

The Lebanese parliament has extended its term by two years due to the U.S.-Israel war with Iran, which has pushed the region into an escalating conflict, and Israel stepped up its attacks on Lebanon.

JERUSALEM, March 14 (Reuters) - Israel and Lebanon are expected to hold direct talks in the coming days, their first since the start of the Iran war that has drawn Lebanon deeper into conflict, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported on Saturday,

Nearly one sixth the country’s population has been displaced since the resumption of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah