The Israeli army has attacked the southern suburbs of Lebanon's capital, Beirut, and attacked southern Lebanon, as Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant claimed the army was “destroying” the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.
Lebanon's official National News Agency (NNA) reported Sunday that Israel's strikes in Dahiyeh – a southern suburb of Beirut – hit a residential building in the Haret Hreik neighborhood, near a mosque and a hospital.
The Israeli military said it attacked the “Hezbollah intelligence headquarters command center” and an underground weapons facility in Beirut and killed three Hezbollah fighters in other attacks.
A video of the attack posted on social media showed the impact of a multi-story building.
Israel also warned on Sunday that it was planning to attack what it called Hezbollah's financial arm, al-Qard al-Hassan, with airstrikes as part of its war with the group, which has escalated significantly since September and led to the deaths of the leader of the Iranian-backed group, Hassan Nasrallah.
The Israeli military told people living near sites belonging to al-Qard al-Hassan – a bank with branches across the country – in Beirut and elsewhere to evacuate.
This came after Gallant told troops on Sunday that the military was stepping up its attacks on Hezbollah.
He said they were not only “defeating the enemy [Hezbollah]”But we are destroying them in all the villages along the border, in the places that Hezbollah planned to use as launch pads for attacks against Israel.”
Al Jazeera's Imran Khan, reporting from Hasbaiyya in southern Lebanon, said people living in the attacked building had nowhere to go.
“The Israeli army gave them very little notice to evacuate, and then those multiple airstrikes came,” he said.
Attacks in southern Lebanon
The attacks in southern Beirut came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Hezbollah of trying to assassinate him by attacking his residence in Caesarea, Israel.
Later on Sunday, the Lebanese army, which is not involved in the war, said three of its soldiers were killed in an Israeli attack on their vehicle in southern Lebanon.
Local security sources told the German news agency DPA that the Israeli army has almost destroyed several villages in southern Lebanon, leveling homes and mosques.
According to the report, the military blew up the town of Ramyah in the Bint Jbeil district of southern Lebanon.
A separate NNA report said Israel was carrying out large-scale bombings against buildings in the southern Lebanese towns of Odaisseh, Markaba and Rab el-Thalathine.
The NNA reported 14 Israeli attacks in the space of 15 minutes against a single border village, Khiam, illustrating the intensity of the fighting.
Israeli strikes targeted dozens of locations in southern Lebanon, including the city of Nabatieh for the third time this week, he said.
An Israeli strike hit a Hezbollah-affiliated rescue workers center in Deir el-Zahrani, southern Lebanon, partially destroying it, ANN reported.
The Israeli military said it “striked and eliminated more than 65 Hezbollah terrorists… and attacked dozens of Hezbollah terrorist targets” in southern Lebanon.
While Israel claims its stated goal is to dismantle Hezbollah infrastructure in southern Lebanon, it has issued a wave of forced evacuation orders for hundreds of villages in the south, causing mass displacement.
It has also bombed cities in the north of the country, as well as places far from areas controlled by Hezbollah.
Attacks on northern Israel
Hezbollah reported new attacks in northern Israel on Sunday, with sirens sounding in at least seven cities and towns near the border with Lebanon, warning of the arrival of missiles.
According to the Israeli military, about 70 missiles were fired from Lebanon toward Israel. Some were intercepted by the missile defense system, while others hit open areas and started fires.
Hours after Israel said it was stepping up its attacks against the group, Hezbollah said it had fired several volleys of rockets at Israel, targeting three Israeli military bases near Haifa, Safed and Tiberias.
He also said he had fired rockets at Israeli troops near two border towns, Markaba and Odaisseh. The ANN alleged that Israeli forces had used explosives to blow up buildings there and in a third village, Rab el-Thalathine.
Al Jazeera's Mohammed Jamjoom reported that one of the main concerns of Israeli authorities in recent hours has been Safed, in northern Israel, with reports of shrapnel falling in the area.
“Over the last two weeks, particularly in northern Israel, there has been major rocket bombardment from Lebanon against areas such as Safed and the main city of Haifa,” he said.
Haifa, a strategic city, is home to Israel's main naval base. It houses oil refineries and other military infrastructure and has a population of approximately 300,000.
“This is a big concern: the fact that rockets continue to be launched northward and some are hitting there,” Jamjoom said.