France and Lebanon say Israel violated its ceasefire with Hezbollah with a strike in Beirut, as deaths mount in Gaza after Israel abandoned its ceasefire with Hamas.

Israel’s military struck Beirut for the first time since a ceasefire with the Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah started in November, an indication of how the deal backed by the U.S. and France is fraying.

Israel on Friday carried out its first major airstrike on Beirut's southern suburbs in months, retaliating for an earlier rocket launch from Lebanon in the most serious test of a shaky ceasefire deal agreed in November.

STORY: Israel's air force conducted a large strike on a building in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital on Friday.The strike could be heard across Beirut -- the first heavy bombardment there since a U.

Israel has launched an attack on the Lebanese capital, Beirut, for the first time since a ceasefire ended the latest Israel-Hezbollah war in November. Associated Press reporters in Beirut heard a large boom and witnessed smoke rising from the area that Israel’s military had vowed to strike.

An already fragile ceasefire between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah appeared to be on shaky ground Friday after rockets fired from Lebanon into northern Israel triggered Israeli airstrikes in the suburbs of Beirut.

Fears are mounting that the months-long ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah is at risk of collapse, as conflicts elsewhere in the region expand.

Israel carried out an airstrike on Beirut's southern suburbs Friday in a first such attack since the Nov. 27 cease-fire agreement that ended the war with Israel.