Hezbollah leader Sheikh Naim Qassem said on Thursday that his Iran-backed group would "act as we see fit" in response to the ongoing war between Iran and Israel.

In a written statement, Qassem said Hezbollah was "not neutral" in the conflict between the two regional superpowers, saying that the group would "act as we see fit in the face of this brutal Israeli-American aggression."

A French court is set to deliver a long-awaited ruling in July on the release of pro-Palestinian Lebanese militant Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, who has been imprisoned for 40 years for the 1982 killings of two foreign diplomats.

The Paris appeals court, initially set to deliver its verdict in February before postponing, will now announce its decision on July 17 after re-examining the request on Thursday.

Israel's military said sirens sounded in the Israel's north on Thursday after missiles were fired from Iran, on the seventh day of war between the two countries.

A military statement said that "sirens sounded in several areas across Israel following the identification of missiles launched from Iran toward the State of Israel", with the army's Home Front Command saying air raid warnings were activated in large parts of the north.

Russia and Ukraine said Thursday they had completed another exchange of captured soldiers, part of an agreement reached earlier in June at peace talks in Istanbul.

"Our people are returning home from Russian captivity," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on social media, as Russia's defence ministry also confirmed the exchange. Neither side said how many soldiers had been freed.

Iran's deputy foreign minister warned the United States on Thursday against intervening in the war to back up its ally Israel, adding that his country was ready to defend itself in case of escalation.

"If the United States wants to actively enter the field in favor of the Zionist regime, Iran will have to use its tools to both teach a lesson to aggressors and defend its national security and national interests," said deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi, according to state TV.

Gaza's civil defense agency said that Israeli forces on Thursday killed at least 18 people, including 15 who had gathered near an aid distribution site in central Gaza.

Civil defence official Mohammad al-Mugghayyir told AFP that "18 people have been killed due to ongoing Israeli shelling on the Gaza Strip since dawn today, 15 of whom were waiting for aid", adding that the remaining three were killed by shelling near Gaza City.

Israel's defense minister said Thursday that Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei "can no longer be allowed to exist" after an Israeli hospital was hit during an Iranian missile attack.

"Khamenei openly declares that he wants Israel destroyed -- he personally gives the order to fire on hospitals. He considers the destruction of the state of Israel to be a goal," Israel Katz told journalists in Holon near Tel Aviv. "Such a man can no longer be allowed to exist."

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Thursday strongly condemned Israeli attacks on Iran in a phone call, the Kremlin said, adding that both leaders called for a diplomatic solution to the conflict.

"Both sides adhere to identical approaches, strongly condemn Israel's actions," Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters, adding that Moscow and Beijing believed the end to the hostilities "should be achieved exclusively by political and diplomatic means".

Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit China later this year for a regional summit, talks with leader Xi Jinping and commemorations marking 80 years since the end of World War II in Asia, the Kremlin said Thursday.

Putin will attend a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Tianjin on August 31-September 1, before heading to the WWII events scheduled in Beijing for September 3, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters.

The U.S. special envoy for Syria Tom Barrack visited Lebanon on Thursday and warned Hezbollah against getting involved in the war between its main backer Iran and Israel.

Barrack is of Lebanese origins and is also the U.S. ambassador to Turkey. He has said that he will temporarily replace Morgan Ortagus as Washington's special envoy to Lebanon. During his first official visit to Lebanon on Thursday he met with President Joseph Aoun, Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam.