Two separate brawls over scarce fuel in northern Lebanon have left three people dead, state media and security sources said, as shortages spark a wave of confrontations at gas stations.

Lebanese protestors have carried imitation coffins in a symbolic funeral procession from Beirut port to demand justice, days after the first anniversary of a vast dockside explosion that killed more than 200 people.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has expressed his "deep concern" about the recent escalation between Hizbullah and Israel across the Blue Line, "including rocket fire into Israel and return air strikes and artillery fire into Lebanon," the U.N. said.

"The Secretary-General calls on all parties to exercise utmost restraint and to actively engage with UNIFIL's liaison and coordination mechanisms," the U.N. said in a statement.

Israel's prime minister said Sunday he holds the Lebanese government responsible for rocket fire launched from its territory, whether Hizbullah launched the weapons or not.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's comments came days after one of the heaviest flareups in violence between Israel and Hizbullah in several years and indicated Israel could expand its response if the rocket fire continues.

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil lamented Sunday that “every hour of power rationing by the power plants costs the dollar reserves 32% more,” seeing as the power supply deficit is being covered by privately-owned neighborhood generators.

Washington and Paris quickly communicated with Lebanon and Israel to contain the latest flare-up between Hizbullah and Israel, a media report said on Sunday.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Sunday said that the southern front with Israel has been ignited in order to “deviate attention” from the anniversary of the catastrophic Beirut port explosion.

On the one-year anniversary of the devastating 4 August port blast that tore Beirut apart, killing more than 200 people and injuring thousands, the British Embassy Beirut held a series of events to commemorate the day.

In his messages over the past week, British Ambassador to Lebanon Ian Collard told of his empathy for the Lebanese people’s ”sense of devastation and quest for justice,” the embassy said.

Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Saturday pledged that his group would respond to any Israeli airstrike on Lebanon, as he described the probe into the Beirut port blast as “politicized and selective.”

The U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Joanna Wronecka has been following with "great concern" the exchange of fire across the Lebanese-Israeli border in the last days, her office said, following Friday's major flare-up.

"Exercising her good offices, the Special Coordinator has activated her political contacts and reached out to all stakeholders concerned," her office said in a statement.