Netanyahu says he's authorised direct negotiations with Lebanese government

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he's authorised direct negotiations with the Lebanese government, aimed at disarming the Iran-backed Hezbollah group.

The two countries have technically been at war since Israel was established, and Mr Netanyahu has again insisted that there is no truce between the two nations in this latest conflict; despite the two-week ceasefire between Israel, Iran, the US

More than 300 people have been killed - according to Lebanon's health ministry - with about a thousand wounded during widespread Israeli strikes in central Beirut and other areas of Lebanon on Wednesday.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has described it as a "massacre".

• GUEST: Dr Shawky Amine Eddine, Humanitarian Affairs Coordinator for the International Committee of the Red Cross in Lebanon