BEIRUT — An Israeli airstrike slammed into a densely populated residential area in Lebanon’s capital near key government and diplomatic buildings late Monday, killing at least five people as the U.S. pressed ahead with cease-fire efforts.

The state-run National News Agency said two missiles hit the area of Zoqaq al-Blat neighborhood — where local U.N. headquarters and Lebanon’s parliament and prime minister’s office are.

Since late September, Israel has dramatically escalated its bombardment of Lebanon, vowing to severely weaken the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group and end its barrages in Israel that the militants have said are in solidarity with Palestinians during the war in Gaza.

The U.S. has been working on a cease-fire proposal that would remove Israeli ground forces from Lebanon and push Hezbollah forces far from the Israel border. Lebanon’s Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a Hezbollah ally who is mediating for the militants, is expected to meet Tuesday with U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein in Beirut. The White House has not confirmed Hochstein’s visit.

Labor Minister Mostafa Bayram, who met with Berri on Monday, said Lebanon would convey its “positive position” to the latest U.S. proposal.

The Israeli military had no immediate comment on the strike, which also wounded 24 people, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

Many areas in central Beirut, including Zoqaq al-Blat, have become a refuge for many of the 1 million people displaced by the conflict in southern Lebanon and the southern suburbs of Beirut. The strike also occurred near a Hussainiye, a Shiite mosque.

The target of the airstrike remained unclear, and the Israeli army did not issue a prior warning. Ambulance sirens echoed through the streets as an Associated Press photographer saw significant casualties on the street.

It was the second consecutive day of Israeli strikes on central Beirut after more than a monthlong pause. On Sunday, a strike in the area of Ras el-Nabaa killed Hezbollah media spokesperson Mohammed Afif and six other people, including a woman.

Later that day, four people were killed in a separate strike in the commercial district of Mar Elias.

The Israeli military has not said what the target of that strike was.

Minutes after Monday’s strike, Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said in a post on X: “All countries and decision-makers are required to end the bloody and destructive Israeli aggression on Lebanon and implement international resolutions, most notably Resolution 1701.”

U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701, adopted in 2006, ended a monthlong war between Israel and Hezbollah and was intended to create a buffer zone in southern Lebanon. However, the resolution’s full implementation has faced challenges from both sides.

The resolution is again on the table as part of an American proposal for a cease-fire deal.