Lebanon state media said Israel struck Beirut’s southern suburbs about half an hour after Israel issued evacuation warnings for the Hezbollah bastion following intense strikes the night before.

“Israeli warplanes launched a new strike a short while ago on the Choueifat” area, Lebanon’s official National News Agency said, later also reporting an Israeli air attack on another south Beirut neighbourhood.

AFPTV footage showed two plumes of smoke rising from Beirut’s south and AFP correspondents in the Lebanese capital heard two loud bangs about half an hour apart.

Earlier in the evening, the Israeli army issued calls to evacuate parts of the Choueifat and Haret Hreik neighbourhoods as the military prepared to target Hezbollah positions there.