Raid hits Beirut's southern suburbs as Israel says striking Hezbollah targets
An Israeli strike hit Beirut's southern suburbs on Monday as Israel's army said it was targeting Hezbollah, with the raid sending a large plume of smoke billowing across the skyline.
The state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported the strike on the area, considered a Hezbollah stronghold, which has been largely emptied of residents following repeated Israeli attacks and evacuation warnings.
Israel has launched strikes across Lebanon and a ground invasion in the south since March 2, when Hezbollah entered the Middle East war on the side of its backer Iran.
Israel's army said it was "striking Hezbollah terror targets in Beirut" on Monday.
Shortly before the warning, an AFP journalist in the southern suburbs saw just a few shops open, including a bakery, a pharmacy and a barbershop, as well as a gas station belonging to the Al-Amana fuel company destroyed in a previous raid.
The Israeli army said on Sunday that in recent days, it had struck two Al-Amana petrol stations "which were controlled by Hezbollah and served as significant financial infrastructure" supporting the group's activities.
Fresh portraits mourning Iran's former supreme leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the U.S.-Israeli attack on February 28 that triggered the Middle East conflict, were visible along main roads in the southern suburbs.
The NNA also reported deadly strikes in the country's south and east on Monday.
A day earlier, Israel repeatedly struck the southern suburbs and also hit a site in Beirut's Jnah neighborhood near the country's largest public medical facility.
The health ministry said that strike killed five people, including a 15-year-old girl and two Sudanese nationals.
Another strike on the town of Ain Saadeh, east of Beirut, killed three people including two women, authorities said.
Source: Agence France Presse
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