Cairo  -   Egypt’s foreign ministry Monday called on “international powers and the United Nations Security Council to intervene immediately” to stop “the dangerous Israeli escalation in Lebanon”.

Israeli air strikes killed 356 people, including 24 children, and displaced thousands in Lebanon on Monday, the health ministry said, in the deadliest cross-border escalation since Israel’s war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip began in October.

Cairo, a key mediator between Israel and Hamas, has repeatedly warned against Israeli regional escalation, which it said Monday “threatens to drag the region into a comprehensive regional war”.

Egypt again expressed “solidarity” with Lebanon and affirmed its “total rejection of any violations of Lebanon’s sovereignty and territory”.

Thousands of Lebanese families have been displaced from the country’s south, after the Israeli military issued warnings to move away from militant targets and vowed to carry out more strikes -- the first such warning to people in Lebanon since the war in Gaza started.

World powers have implored Israel and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah -- who have been engaged in months of cross-border clashes in solidarity with Palestinian ally Hamas -- to pull back from the brink of all-out war.

Egypt said it “continues its efforts towards a ceasefire in Gaza” in an attempt to restore calm.