UN condemns Israeli strikes on Lebanon, calls casualty reports 'appalling'

April 8 (Reuters) - The United Nations on Wednesday condemned a massive wave of Israeli strikes across Lebanon, saying reports that hundreds of people, including civilians had been killed and injured were "appalling" just hours after the Iran ceasefire.

Israel's strikes on Lebanon have been the heaviest since the conflict with Hezbollah broke out last month, even as the Iran-aligned group paused attacks on northern Israel and Israeli troops in Lebanon under a two-week U.S.-Iran ceasefire.

"The scale of the killing and destruction in Lebanon today is nothing short of horrific," U.N. Human Rights Chief Volker Turk said in a statement.

"Such carnage, within hours of agreeing to a ceasefire with Iran, defies belief. It places enormous pressure on a fragile peace, which is so desperately needed by civilians," he said.

Turk's statement said a U.N. Human Rights team at the site of one of the strikes in the capital described a scene of devastation, and seeing several dead bodies amid the rubble.

Israel said it had targeted more than 100 Hezbollah command centres, with military sites targeted in Beirut, the Bekaa Valley and southern Lebanon.

Lebanon's civil defense authorities said the death toll from Israeli strikes across Lebanon on Wednesday had risen to 254.

Turk said an overnight Israeli strike on a building in front of Hiram Hospital in Al-Aabbassiye, near Tyre, reportedly killed four and damaged the hospital. Another attack hit an Islamic Health Authority ambulance in Qlaileh, reportedly killing three.

"International humanitarian law spells out clearly that civilians and civilian infrastructure must be protected," he said. "There must be prompt and independent investigations into all alleged violations, and those responsible brought to justice."