Lebanon death toll 'reaches 900'

The UN has said that many of the Lebanese dead are children

More than 900 Lebanese people have been killed in three weeks of fighting with Israel, Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora has said.

More than 3,000 have been wounded and 1m - or a quarter of the total population - had been displaced, he told a Muslim summit in a message.

Previous estimates have put Lebanon's death toll between 500 and 700.

Israel's death toll in the conflict rose to 62, including 24 civilians, after new Hezbollah attacks.

Thursday saw at least three Lebanese civilian deaths from Israeli air attacks.

Child deaths

Speaking from Beirut in a video address to a summit in Malaysia, Mr Siniora said a third of the casualties in the conflict had been children under 12.

The United Nations' emergency relief co-ordinator, Jan Egeland, said last month that nearly a third of the dead or wounded in Lebanon were children.

Latest UN estimates for displaced people in Lebanon put the figure at between 700,000 and 800,000.

Reporting the death toll given by the prime minister, Reuters news agency said its own count was at least 683.

The Associated Press noted a previous toll of 548 people confirmed dead and AFP news agency said earlier this week that its own Lebanese death count was 530.