BEIRUT– Lebanese media reported an Israeli strike hit Beirut’s southern suburbs early Friday, as AFP correspondents heard several explosions from the Hezbollah stronghold that Israel has repeatedly struck since war erupted this month.
AFPTV footage showed smoke billowing from the area after the raid.
Lebanon’s official National News Agency reported that “enemy aircraft” carried out a raid on Tahouitet al-Ghadir in the southern suburbs at dawn.
Israel has previously issued sweeping evacuation warnings for the area, but provided no specific warning in advance of Friday’s strike.
The usually densely populated area has largely emptied of residents since the hostilities erupted, and it was unclear whether there were any casualties.
Hours later, Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee called on residents of Sejoud village in southern Lebanon to evacuate to the north of Zahrani river, warning of an imminent attack against Hezbollah.
Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war on March 2 when Tehran-backed Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel to avenge the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Israel has since been bombing Lebanon, mainly in areas where Hezbollah has long held sway, and has sent in ground troops in a push to establish a buffer zone in south Lebanon.
Hezbollah said its fighters kept up its attacks on Israeli troops in south Lebanon early Friday.
On Thursday, official Lebanese media reported deadly Israeli raids in the country’s south, and Hezbollah claimed more than 90 attacks on Israeli targets inside Lebanon and across the border.
Also Thursday, Israel’s military said two soldiers were killed in south Lebanon, while Israeli emergency services said a rocket fired from Lebanon killed a man in northern Israel’s Nahariya area.
Israeli strikes since March 2 have killed at least 1,116 people including 121 children, according to Lebanese authorities, while more than one million people have been displaced.
Earlier, in Tyre, Lebanon, Khalil and his young family are sheltering in a theatre in south Lebanon’s Tyre, refusing to leave despite Israeli bombardment on the city that is now almost cut off from the rest of the country.
“They’ll have to take us by force,” said the man in his thirties, who fled his home with his wife and two-year-old son, insisting they “will not surrender”.
Despite Israeli ground operations and the spectre of a full-blown invasion, “we don’t want to leave our land… our heart is here”, he told AFP.
Lebanon was pulled into the Middle East war when Tehran-backed militant group Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel on March 2 to avenge the killing of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Israel has responded with intense strikes and has sent ground troops into south Lebanon.
Around 20,000 people, including some 15,000 displaced from nearby villages, are defying Israeli army evacuation orders covering most of the coastal city and swathes of the country’s south.
In Tyre’s old city, people are crammed into a Christian district that has not been ordered to evacuate, and into a few schools.
But many wonder how long the city can hold out.
On Tuesday, around a dozen explosions rocked Tyre and nearby, the heaviest bombardment there since the start of the war.
Israeli fighter jets and drones circled the sky until nightfall, launching attacks that wounded at least 24 people, according to authorities, and sending black smoke billowing into the air.
Hezbollah has a strong presence in Tyre. Its yellow flag bearing a Kalashnikov flies from lampposts in the city famous for its long sandy beaches and ancient ruins.
Black-clad men are seen stationed near roundabouts, zipping through deserted streets on scooters or inspecting buildings reduced to rubble.
After Israeli army strike warnings, they shoot into the air to warn remaining civilians to flee.
