UNIFIL needs review, possibly strengthened - EU's Borrell

European Commission Vice President Josep Borrell has said the mission of the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon UNIFIL "needs to be reviewed" and possibly strengthened.

"They cannot act by themselves, it is certainly a limited role. It could be considered to expand the role but this requires a United Nations Security Council decision," said Mr Borrell, speaking on the sidelines of a G7 defence summit.

There are 379 Irish troops serving as peacekeepers with UNIFIL in Lebanon.

Mr Borrell was speaking as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said a drone was launched toward his residence in Caesarea, after the military reported a drone from Lebanon had "hit a structure" in the central Israeli town.

"A UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) was launched toward the prime minister's residence in Caesarea. The prime minister and his wife were not at the location, and there were no injuries in the incident," Mr Netanyahu's office said in a statement.

It was not immediately clear whether the structure reported hit by the military earlier was his private residence.

The military said three drones had been fired from Lebanon and it had intercepted two.

The Israeli army has said at least 115 projectiles have been fired from Lebanon into northern Israel, with sirens blaring across northern Israel at regular intervals.

Hezbollah said it fired rockets at northern Israel, including at a military base near the city of Haifa.

The "large salvo" of advanced rockets hit a military base east of Haifa, said Hezbollah, which has vowed to intensify attacks on Israel weeks into an all-out war that erupted on 23 September.

In an earlier statement, the Iran-backed group said it targeted a region north of Haifa city with a rocket salvo.

One man was killed by shrapnel near the port city of Acre, Israeli emergency services have said.

Five people were injured in Kiryat Ata, in the Haifa district, mostly from shrapnel injuries, said a spokesperson for emergency service provider Magen David Adom.

A rocket damaged a three-storey building and burned two cars in Kiryat Ata, with firefighting teams and ambulances dispatched to the area, AFP footage showed.

On Thursday, Hezbollah said it was opening a new "escalatory phase" in its war with Israel.

Late last month, Israel dramatically stepped up its air strikes on Lebanon and sent in ground forces after nearly a year of cross-border exchanges.

Lebanon's health ministry said two people were killed in an Israeli strike on a vital highway north of Beirut, in the first attack on the area since Hezbollah and Israel started trading fire last year.

Since late September, the war has left at least 1,418 people dead in Lebanon, according to an AFP tally of Lebanese health ministry figures, though the real toll is likely higher.

Two killed in Israeli strike on Jounieh

Lebanese authorities said two people were killed in an Israeli strike in Jounieh, north of Beirut, the first attack on the Christian-majority town since Hezbollah and Israel started trading fire last year.

The strike occurred on the highway connecting Beirut to northern Lebanon, prompting a large deployment of troops and security forces, said an AFP correspondent in the area.

The road, a key artery for those fleeing the Israel-Hezbollah war since it erupted in the south last month, suffered minimal damage.

The health ministry said an Israeli raid there killed two people.

The official National News Agency said a man and his wife were killed in a drone strike on their four-wheel drive.

They were hit in a field adjacent to the road after escaping an initial strike near their vehicle, NNA said, without identifying them.

"I saw them run out of the car," said a witness who asked to remain anonymous. "They were then hit again."