Lebanon and Israel are set to hold the first direct diplomatic talks in decades on Tuesday in Washington following more than a month of war between Israel and the Hezbollah militant group that has rocked the tiny Mediterranean country.

At least 36 people were killed and dozens of others injured in Israeli airstrikes across Lebanon since dawn Wednesday, as regional escalation continued to flare up, Lebanese media reported.

Israel carried out strikes in Lebanon on Wednesday, hours after the United States and Iran reached a Pakistani-mediated two-week cease-fire.

AP journalists saw charred bodies in vehicles and on the ground at one of Beirut’s busiest intersections in the central Corniche al Mazraa neighborhood, a mixed commercial and residential area.

On Wednesday, April 8, Israel launched a torrent of missiles aimed at sites Lebanon. They killed and injured hundreds. Here's what to know.

Hezbollah, or Party of God in Arabic, was created in the 1980s during Israel's occupation of Lebanon in the Lebanese Civil War. From its beginning, the group has been financed, trained and armed by Iran, and the destruction of Israel remains one of its official goals.