Photos: Israel pounds Beirut suburbs with heavy daytime air strikes

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Israel pounds Beirut suburbs with heavy daytime air strikes

Israeli forces bombarded Beirut’s southern suburbs, urging residents to evacuate before launching daytime air strikes.

Wave of Israeli strikes hit south Beirut after evacuation warning — Smoke rises after an Israeli air strike on Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut [Bilal Hussein/AP Photo]

By News Agencies

Israel’s military has pounded Beirut’s southern suburbs with air strikes, mounting one of its heaviest daytime attacks yet on the area after the defence minister ruled out a ceasefire until Israeli war goals were met.

Israel launched at least 10 air strikes on southern Beirut on Tuesday morning, Lebanese state media reported, shortly after Israel’s army urged residents of several neighbourhoods to evacuate.

“Israeli warplanes launched a very violent 10th strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs,” the official National News Agency reported.

Footage from the AFP news agency showed grey smoke covering the area, with big plumes rising after each strike.

Earlier, the Israeli army told residents of four south Beirut neighbourhoods to leave immediately, warning it would strike Hezbollah targets there.

“You are located near facilities and interests affiliated with Hezbollah, against which the [Israeli military] will act in the near future,” military spokesman Avichay Adraee said in a post on X.

The post included a map showing the buildings it would target in the Lebanese capital’s south.

Witnesses told AFP they heard gunfire in the area before the strikes – warning shots by residents for people to leave following the evacuation call.

NNA also reported Israeli strikes across Lebanon’s south that destroyed a building in the main southern city of Nabatieh and also targeted the eastern city of Hermel.

Last month, Israeli strikes razed Nabatieh’s historic marketplace, with another wave of attacks also hitting its municipality building and killing several people, including the city’s mayor.

Since September 23, Israel has intensified its air campaign, mainly targeting areas in Lebanon’s east and south and in southern Beirut. A week later, it sent in ground troops.

In Lebanon, at least 3,243 people have been killed and 14,134 wounded in Israeli attacks since October 2023.

Residents stand on their apartment balcony at a building that was destroyed by an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut — Residents stand on their apartment balcony at a building that was destroyed by an Israeli air strike in Dahiyeh. [Hussein Malla/AP Photo]

A man removes debris from his damaged shop at a building that was destroyed by an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut — A man removes debris from his damaged shop at a building that was destroyed by an Israeli air strike. [Hussein Malla/AP Photo]

Rescue worker stand on a destroyed car over the rubble of a destroyed — A rescue worker stand on a destroyed car over the rubble of a destroyed building hit by an Israeli air strike in Saksakiyeh village, south Lebanon. [Mohammed Zaatari/AP Photo]

A fire burns at a destroyed house following an Israeli airstrike that targeted Lebanon's eastern town of Hermel — A fire burns at a destroyed house following an Israeli air strike that targeted Lebanon's eastern town of Hermel. [Sam Skaineh/AFP]

First responders and locals search the site of an overnight Israeli strike in Ain Yaacoub, Akkar region. Israel struck Lebanon's northernmost Akkar region on November 12, killing at least eight people according to authorities, in one of the farthest attacks from the Israeli border since Israel escalated its attacks on Lebanon in September. [Fathi al-Masri/AFP]

A man carries a safe box after he pulls it out of a destroyed building that was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut — A man carries a safe box after he pulls it out of a destroyed building that was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh. [Hussein Malla/AP Photo]

A woman stands in front of a building that was destroyed by an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon. [Hussein Malla/AP Photo]