A former Lebanese diplomat accused of being a financier for Hezbollah has pleaded guilty to evading U.S. financial sanctions against him and his organization, branded as "terrorist" by the U.S. government.

Ambassador James Kariuki, UK Deputy Permanent Representative to the U.N., has said that the UK is working to de-escalate and end the cycle of violence in Middle East, during a U.N. Security Council meeting on the latest developments in the region.

"This past year has seen continuous and devastating violence across the region. Civilians have suffered on a dreadful scale on both sides of the Blue Line. The explosions in Lebanon this week and Israel’s strike in southern Beirut today are the latest in a deadly cycle of violence, and we are deeply concerned by civilian casualties resulting from those incidents. That children were among them is particularly distressing. Our condolences go to the families of the civilians killed," Kariuki said.

Iran's foreign ministry has condemned an Israeli air strike in Beirut's southern suburbs that killed a top commander of the Tehran-backed Hezbollah and several others as an attempt to broaden the war in Gaza.

The United Nations said Friday the detonation of hand-held communication devices in Lebanon could constitute a war crime as Lebanon's top diplomat accused Israel of orchestrating what he called a "terror" attack.

Hezbollah said Saturday that a second senior commander was among 16 fighters killed in an Israeli air strike on its Beirut stronghold the previous day, highlighting the scale of the blow to its military leadership.

Israel said Friday's strike on the southern suburbs of Lebanon's capital killed the head of Hezbollah's elite Radwan Force, Ibrahim Akil, and several other commanders.

The woman whose company was linked to thousands of pagers that exploded in Lebanon and Syria this week is under the protection of the Hungarian secret services, her mother told The Associated Press on Friday.

Cristiana Bársony-Arcidiacono has not appeared publicly since the deadly simultaneous attack that targeted Hezbollah on Tuesday and that has been widely blamed on Israel. She is listed as the CEO of Budapest-based BAC Consulting, which the Taiwanese trademark holder of the pagers said was responsible for the manufacture of the devices.

U.S. President Joe Biden said Friday he was working to allow people to return to their homes on the Israeli-Lebanon border, in his first comments since a wave of explosions targeting the Hezbollah militia sent tensions soaring.

Biden added that it was crucial to keep pushing for a Gaza ceasefire to underpin regional peace, despite a media report that his administration had given up hope of securing a truce before he leaves office in January.

Israel announced it had killed the commander of Hezbollah's elite unit in a strike Friday that Lebanese officials said left 12 dead and dozens wounded in the movement's Beirut stronghold.

- Iran embassy in Lebanon condemns 'Israeli madness'-

Israel's defense minister said on Friday that the country's "enemies" would find no refuge in the southern suburb of Beirut where an air strike killed a Hezbollah commander.

"Our enemies have no place of refuge -- not even the Dahieh in Beirut," Yoav Gallant said on X, referring to the area where Israel said Ibrahim Akil, commander of Hezbollah's elite Radwan unit, was killed along with "about 10" other top militants.

Ibrahim Akil, who Israel said it killed in an air strike on Beirut's southern suburbs Friday, headed Hezbollah's elite Radwan unit and had been on a U.S. sanctions list for nearly a decade.

The United States described Akil as a "key leader" in the group and offered a $7 million reward for information about the man who became the second top Hezbollah commander killed in nearly a year of clashes between the militant group and Israel over the Gaza war.