The IDF insists it only targets combatants and tries to avoid or minimise civilian casualties.

To the city governments’ credit, the number of casualties to date have been limited given the radius of the fires and the amount of damage inflicted.

Graphic images posted online showed first responders treating casualties on the roadside, several vehicles on fire and a stationary tram with its windows shattered.

While tremors were felt in Nepal, no damage or casualties were reported, a local official in Nepal's Namche region, near Everest, told AFP.

The report noted that the neighbourhood was "often densely packed with pedestrians and represents an area where a mass casualty incident could occur".