Israel’s military launched strikes in the suburbs of the Lebanese capital Beirut on Thursday evening after issuing evacuation warnings for large parts of the area earlier in the day.
The Israeli military said it had targeted infrastructure linked to the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia. Residents reported loud explosions and rising black smoke after a strike in the Haret Hreik district. People in other parts of the city also reported shattered windows from the force of the blasts.
In the afternoon, the Israeli military had urged residents of several neighbourhoods, including Haret Hreik, to leave the area. It was the first time Israel had issued an evacuation warning for such a large area in Beirut’s suburbs. Previous warnings had typically applied only to individual buildings or much smaller zones.
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Witnesses said many residents tried to flee the area in panic.
The affected districts are considered strongholds of the Hezbollah militia but are also densely populated residential areas.
Hezbollah fighters began firing rockets at Israel early on Monday in response to the killing of Iran’s supreme leader ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a joint US-Israeli assault on Iran. Since then, Israel’s military has carried out heavy strikes on targets in several parts of Lebanon.
Israel’s military also said two soldiers were wounded in clashes with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.