BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) – Lebanese state media said Israeli air strikes hit Beirut’s southern suburbs on Friday shortly after Israel’s military warned residents to leave parts of the area, a bastion of Hezbollah militants.
The official National News Agency reported an air raid near the Lebanese University and another on the Burj al-Barajneh suburb.
The official news outlet later said the aerial attack had also hit the Al Jamous neighbourhood, which it said was not included in the Israeli army’s warning.
Echoes of the attack rang out over Beirut, while thick black smoke blanketed the region, state media reported.
Hezbollah and Israel have been at war since late September, when Israel broadened its focus from fighting Hamas in the Gaza Strip to securing its northern border, even as the Gaza war continues.
Hezbollah announced on Wednesday that it had targeted a military base close to Ben Gurion Airport, Israel’s main international transport hub.
Hezbollah began low-intensity strikes on Israel last year in support of its Palestinian ally Hamas following the Gaza war.
Since September 23, more than 2,600 people have been killed in Israeli strikes on Lebanon, according to Health Minister Firass Abiad.
