European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Sunday that Israel and Hezbollah must be pressured to accept the U.S. truce proposal to end their raging war.

BEIRUT − Lebanon and the militant group Hezbollah have agreed to a U.S. ceasefire proposal and made some comments on the content, a top Lebanese official told Reuters on Monday, describing the effort as the most serious yet to end weeks of fighting and Israeli bombardments.

Four Italian soldiers were lightly wounded amid clashes between Hezbollah and Israeli forces in southern Lebanon.

Israeli officials have demanded freedom to strike Hezbollah in Lebanon as part of any emerging cease-fire deal between the sides, raising a potential complication as a top U.S. envoy was in the region

Successive Israeli strikes pummelled Hezbollah's south Beirut stronghold on Thursday as authorities said raids in eastern Lebanon killed 22 people, and Hezbollah claimed its deepest attack on Israel in more than a year of hostilities.