(UPDATES) AMID fears of a widening war in the region, the Philippine Embassy in Beirut has urged all Filipinos in Lebanon — about 11,000 of them — to leave the country immediately while the airport is still operational.

The advisory came as Lebanon's health ministry said an Israeli air strike on Saturday in southern Lebanon killed 10 Syrians, as the Israeli military reported hitting weapons stores of the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement.

The toll from the strike in the Nabatieh area is one of the largest in southern Lebanon since Hezbollah and Israeli forces began exchanging near-daily fire over their border after war in the Gaza Strip began in October.

International mediators have been trying to reach a Gaza ceasefire between Israel and Hamas Palestinian militants, which diplomats say could help to avert a wider war in which Lebanon would be on the front line.

The death toll from the latest strike included "a woman and her two children" while five other people were wounded, most of them also Syrian, Lebanon's health ministry said in a statement.

The official Lebanese National News Agency reported that the casualties were Syrian refugees and workers.

Israel's military, on its Telegram channel, said the air force had struck a weapons storage facility of Lebanon's Hezbollah overnight "in the area of Nabatieh," which is about 12 kilometers (7 miles) from the nearest point of the Israeli border.

Israeli artillery hit other targets near the border in southern Lebanon, the military said, after air strikes Friday on "Hezbollah military structures" near Hanine and Maroun el-Ras in southern Lebanon.

The killings in quick succession in late July of Fuad Shukr, a top operations chief of Hezbollah in south Lebanon, and Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh led to vows of vengeance from Hezbollah, Iran and other Tehran-backed groups in the region, which blamed Israel.

The Philippine Embassy emphasized the importance of prioritizing safety and advised Filipinos to leave the country as soon as possible.

For those unable to leave, the embassy recommended relocating to safer areas outside Beirut, South Lebanon, and the Bekaa Valley.

Amid fears that the Gaza conflict may spill over into Lebanon, the Philippines has been repatriating its nationals from the country. On Aug. 1, a recent batch of repatriates, including 19 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and three minors, was flown back to Manila.

The Department of Migrant Workers and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration gave the OFWs financial assistance and job facilitation services in aid of their reintegration.