Israel strikes Beirut, Lebanon state media says Hamas official killed

Israel said it carried out strikes on Beirut targeting Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah on Thursday, while Lebanese state media reported an Israeli drone strike killed a Hamas official.

Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war on Monday, when Hezbollah attacked Israel in response to the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during US-Israeli strikes over the weekend.

Israel has since struck targets across the country and sent ground forces into border towns.

Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported several strikes early Thursday, including two in the Hezbollah stronghold of south Beirut, where AFPTV footage showed smoke rising.

Israel's military, which earlier told residents to leave the suburbs where the strikes were reported, said its forces hit "several command centers belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist organisation" in the city. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

The NNA said that a pre-dawn Israeli drone strike hit an apartment in Beddawi, a Palestinian refugee camp near Tripoli, killing senior Hamas official Wassim Atallah al-Ali and his wife.

This is the first reported targeted killing of a Hamas official since the regional war began on Saturday.

The report noted that Ali's brother, also a Hamas official from Beddawi, was killed in an Israeli air strike during the war triggered by Hamas's 2023 attack on Israel.

Separately, the NNA reported that a drone hit a vehicle in south Lebanon, killing three people. It did not speculate who was behind the strike.

Another "enemy" air strike hit a house in Tyre district, the NNA said.

Israel has not claimed the latest attacks reported by the Lebanese news agency.

Meanwhile, in Israel's north near the border, repeated air raid alerts sent residents to shelters in several locations, with no immediate reports of impact or casualties.

Hezbollah's leader vowed Wednesday to keep up its fight against Israel and step up attacks, saying the group had targeted Israeli positions as far as Tel Aviv in at least 15 attacks.

"We are facing aggression... our choice is to confront it until the ultimate sacrifice, and we will not surrender," Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem declared in his first speech since the latest round of fighting broke out.

Lebanese authorities announced at least 72 people killed, 437 wounded and 83,000 displaced from their homes since Monday.

- 'Direct' clashes -

The Israeli military told people living south of Lebanon's Litani river -- a large area stretching around 30 kilometres (20 miles) north of the border -- to evacuate, warning that the army was "compelled to take military action" against Hezbollah there.

Under a November 2024 truce, only UN peacekeepers and the Lebanese army may bear arms south of the Litani river.

Israel was supposed to withdraw all of its forces, but has kept troops in areas it deems strategic and conducted regular air strikes, citing Hezbollah's refusal to surrender arms.

On Tuesday, Israel's military said it was creating a buffer zone inside Lebanon to protect Israeli residents.

Troops from three divisions, including infantry, armoured and engineering units were operating in southern Lebanon, Israel's army said late Wednesday.

AFP video footage showed what appeared to be two Israeli tanks amid residential buildings in Khiam, about six kilometres (3.7 miles) north of the border.

The UN peacekeeping mission, UNIFIL, reported Israeli "movements and military activities" on the Lebanese side, adding in a statement that they violate Lebanon's "sovereignty and territorial integrity".

Hezbollah said its fighters had engaged Israeli troops in "direct" clashes in Khiam, while Israel said two of its soldiers had been "moderately injured" by anti-tank fire.

- Southern suburbs targeted -

A series of strikes on Wednesday hit Beirut's southern suburbs following evacuation warnings from Israel's military.

AFP footage showed thick plumes of smoke rising above buildings in the densely populated area, which some residents fled when the violence erupted on Monday.

An air strike also hit a hotel in Hazmieh -- the first reported Israeli attack on the predominantly Christian area in Beirut's suburbs.

In Aramoun and Saadiyat south of Beirut -- two towns also outside of Hezbollah's traditional sphere of influence -- the health ministry said Israeli strikes killed at least six people.

AFP footage from Aramoun showed damaged cars and rescue workers carrying a wounded person on a stretcher.

Strikes also targeted a four-storey building in the city of Baalbek, in Lebanon's east, far from the border where Hezbollah also has a strong presence.