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".

The war is expanding into Lebanon, as an Israeli offensive to dismantle Hezbollah has displaced 800,000 people there, with more than 680 people killed.

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,

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) late on Thursday said that it had struck Hezbollah infrastructure "across Lebanon. " "A short while ago the IDF completed several waves of strikes targeting Hezbollah

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.

The French government has drafted a proposal to end the war in Lebanon that would require the Lebanese government to take the unprecedented step of recognizing Israel, three sources familiar with the details told Axios.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday said Lebanon was ready to engage in "direct talks" with Israel and offered to host negotiations in Paris. This came on the heels of a visit to Beirut by