UN criticizes strikes causing major damage to Hezbollah-linked finance firm

The United Nations condemned on Monday Israeli strikes the night before targeting a Hezbollah-linked firm that, it said, caused "extensive damage" to civilian property and infrastructure.

"We condemn the heavy Israeli bombardment of various urban and residential areas... which the IDF (Israeli military) says targeted various facilities affiliated with the Al-Qard Al-Hassan financial association," the UN Human Rights Office in the Middle East and North Africa said in a statement.

The attacks caused "extensive damage to civilian objects," it said, including "residential properties, civilian infrastructure, and business premises".

The Rights Office added that the attacks also triggered "indescribable panic and another wave of displacement among residents of those areas".

"International humanitarian law must be always respected. Civilians and civilian infrastructure are not a target," it said, calling for a ceasefire.

On September 23, Israel escalated its air campaign against targets in Lebanon and sent in ground forces after nearly a year of relatively limited cross-border exchanges with Hezbollah.

Since then, the Lebanon war has displaced more than a million people, officials have said, and killed at least 1,489 people, according to an AFP tally of health ministry figures.