The decision followed two Israeli airstrikes, one targeting the busy shopping district of Mar Elias and another in the Ras al-Nabaa area of Beirut. According to the Ministry of Public Health, the Mar Elias strike killed three people and injured 13 others, while the Ras al-Nabaa strike killed four and injured 14.

Lebanese armed group Hezbollah confirmed its media relations chief Mohammad Afif was killed by an Israeli strike on a building in central Beirut on Sunday.

Israel has stepped up strikes on the city’s southern suburbs in recent days, an area Israeli officials say hosts Hezbollah militants and infrastructure.

The Israeli military pressed on Saturday with its days-long bombing campaign targeting an area near Beirut dominated by Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite militia, while in the country’s south, Israeli airstrikes killed two paramedics, according to Lebanon’s health ministry.

Israel killed Hezbollah’s chief spokesman in a rare central Beirut airstrike. An anonymous Hezbollah official confirmed the death of Mohammed Afif to the Associated Press, while two Lebanese security sources confirmed it to Reuters.

Israeli strikes killed at least 11 people across southern Lebanon, including a mother, father and their three kids in a home