“We are sorry to announce the death on Monday of an 87-year-old fellow countrywoman in a village near the city of Tyre,” the ministry said.

“The building where she lived collapsed following a large explosion nearby.”

The ministry said it had received no other indications of French victims.

Israeli bombing of Hezbollah strongholds around Lebanon has killed hundreds of people this week, while the Iran-backed rebels have retaliated with rocket barrages.

Israel today rejected a US-led push for a 21-day ceasefire in Lebanon, vowing to keep fighting Hezbollah fighters “until victory”.

Israeli strikes killed at least 558 people on Monday, according to the Lebanese health ministry.

It was by far the deadliest day of violence in Lebanon, not just in the latest escalation but since the 1975-1990 civil war.

According to the UN, Israel’s bombardment of Lebanon had by yesterday forced 90,000 people to flee their homes in traditional Hezbollah strongholds to safer areas elsewhere in the tiny Mediterranean country.