Israel launches 11 consecutive strikes on south Beirut

A source close to Hezbollah said Israel had conducted 11 consecutive strikes on the group's south Beirut stronghold late Thursday, in one of the most violent raids since Israel intensified its bombardment campaign last week.

AFP correspondents in the capital and beyond heard loud bangs that made car alarms go off and building shake.

About an hour later, AFP journalists heard several explosions coming from the direction of the southern suburbs after the Israeli military ordered residents of the Hadath neighbourhood to evacuate.

"Israel struck the southern suburbs 11 consecutive times," the source said on the condition of anonymity.

AFP footage showed giant balls of flame rising from the targeted site with thick smoke billowing and flares shooting out.

Lebanon's official National News Agency (NNA) said "more than 10 consecutive strikes have been recorded so far, in one of the strongest raids on the southern suburbs of Beirut since the start of the Israeli war on Lebanon".

The strikes echoed to mountain regions outside Beirut, the NNA said.

Earlier Thursday, Israeli army Arabic-language spokesperson Avichay Adraee had issued an "urgent warning" for residents of the south Beirut area of Burj al-Barajneh to evacuate along with maps of the area. He later issued an evacuation order for the Hadath neighbourhood of Beirut's south.

"You are located near facilities and interests belonging to Hezbollah, and the IDF (Israeli army) will work against them in the near future," he had said in a statement on X.

Earlier in the evening, a source close to Hezbollah said another Israeli strike had targeted a warehouse next to Beirut airport, in the capital's south.

"An Israeli air strike targeted a warehouse adjacent to the airport," the source told AFP, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters. It was unclear what the warehouse contained.

Earlier in the afternoon, the NNA had reported several "enemy raids".

A source close to the group had told AFP that the earlier strikes had "targeted a building housing Hezbollah's media relations office", which had already been evacuated.

This week, Israel announced that its troops had started "ground raids" into parts of southern Lebanon, after days of heavy bombardment of Hezbollah strongholds around the country.

After nearly a year of low-intensity cross-border fighting, Israel has expanded its military campaign from Gaza to Lebanon, where heavy bombing has killed more than 1,000 people and forced hundreds of thousands to flee.

Israel last week killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in south Beirut, a densely populated area before residents fled Israel's intensifying bombardment.