BEIRUT 

Israeli warplanes launched airstrikes in southern Beirut on Thursday shortly after issuing evacuation orders for residents in the area, Lebanese media said.

Attacks targeted Ghobeiry, Chouaifet, Borj al-Barajneh and Chiyah neighborhoods in southern Beirut, the state news agency NNA reported.

No information was yet available about injuries or damage.

The airstrikes came shortly after the Israeli army ordered residents in Chouaifet El-Aamroussieh and Ghobeiry to leave and distance themselves at least 500 meters (1,640 feet) from several buildings in a number of areas.

Israeli fighter jets also carried out airstrikes in the towns of Yohmor al-Chaqif, Ghaziyeh, Ain Qana, and Hay al-Rahibat in southern Lebanon.

Several buildings were destroyed in the attacks, but no information was yet available about casualties.

Israel has carried out airstrikes in Lebanon against what it claims are Hezbollah group targets in an escalation from a year of cross-border warfare between Israel and the Lebanese group since the Oct. 7, 2023 start of Israel’s brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip.

More than 3,360 people have been killed, over 14,300 injured, and more than 1 million people displaced by Israeli attacks since last October, according to Lebanese health authorities.

Israel expanded the conflict by launching an incursion into southern Lebanon this Oct. 1.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar