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The Israeli military has warned residents in 24 areas in Lebanon – including 14 in the capital Beirut – that it plans to carry out strikes in the coming hours and throughout the night.<\/p>\n
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it would target banks and other financial infrastructure supporting Hezbollah.<\/p>\n
A BBC correspondent in Beirut said there have been eight air strikes in the capital’s southern Dahieh district, an area controlled by Hezbollah.<\/p>\n
Lebanon’s state-run media also reported a strike in the east of the country. It is unclear whether there were any casualties.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Hezbollah said it had fired more rockets into Israel on Sunday, targeting military bases.<\/p>\n
In a statement on Sunday evening, IDF spokesman Rear Adm Daniel Hagari warned that “anyone located near sites used to fund Hezbollah\u2019s terror activities must move away from these locations immediately”.<\/p>\n
“We will strike several targets in the coming hours and additional targets throughout the night,” he said.<\/p>\n
“In the coming days, we will reveal how Iran funds Hezbollah’s terror activities by using civilian institutions, associations, and NGOs that act as fronts for terrorism,” the Israeli spokesman added.<\/p>\n
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported a strike on the bank Al-Qard Al-Hassan association in the country’s eastern Bekaa Valley.<\/p>\n
Israel accuses the association of financing Hezbollah.<\/p>\n
Earlier in the day, the IDF said that dozens of projectiles were fired at northern Israel in the past 24 hours.<\/p>\n
It also said that its warplanes conducted “an intelligence-based strike on a command centre of Hezbollah’s intelligence headquarters and an underground weapons workshop in Beirut”.<\/p>\n
It said steps had been taken to “reduce the possibility of civilian casualties”.<\/p>\n
Israel has been accused by Hezbollah and Lebanese officials of targeting civilians, which it denies.<\/p>\n
Earlier on Sunday, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) accused the IDF of deliberately demolishing an observation tower and perimeter fence of a UN position in the southern Lebanese town of Marwahin on the border with Israel. It follows similar incidents in recent weeks.<\/p>\n
“Yet again, we note that breaching a UN position and damaging UN assets is a flagrant violation of international law and Security Council resolution 1701,” the Unifil said in a statement.<\/p>\n
In a separate development, the Lebanese army said three of it soldiers were killed after a military vehicle was hit by an Israeli air strike in Nabatieh, southern Lebanon.<\/p>\n
Israel has not yet commented on the two reported incidents.<\/p>\n
Lebanon’s army has historically stayed out of cross-border clashes between Israel and Hezbollah – but a number of its troops have been killed in Israeli attacks since fighting escalated last month.<\/p>\n
Hezbollah – a powerful militant group in Lebanon – says it has been firing on Israeli positions in solidarity with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.<\/p>\n
Both Hezbollah and Hamas are backed by Iran.<\/p>\n
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