Official Lebanese media said five Israeli strikes hit south Beirut and its outskirts on Saturday, four of them “very violent”, after the Israeli army warned residents to evacuate the Hezbollah bastion.
“Israeli enemy warplanes carried out four very violent strikes on [Beirut’s] southern suburbs, and one strike on the Chweifat” area, with ambulances rushing to the site, Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) said.
Agence France-Presse correspondents in Beirut heard several explosions with footage showing plumes of smoke rising from the targeted areas.
Footage filmed by Agence France-Presse showed plumes of smoke rising from the targeted areas, with one strike creating a ball of flame that rose into the air while flares shot up amid thick smoke.
The NNA later said air traffic at Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport was “ongoing despite the Israeli enemy’s aggression on the southern suburbs. Several Middle East Airlines planes have just landed”.
The Israeli army earlier on Saturday night announced a new call for residents to evacuate from Beirut’s southern suburbs.
“For your safety and that of your family members, you must immediately evacuate the designated buildings and those adjacent to them and move away from them at least 500 metres,” said spokesman Avichay Adraee on social media, alongside satellite images highlighting areas in the Burj el-Barajneh, Haret Hreik and Chouaifat al-Amrussiya neighbourhoods.
