BEIRUT: Israel conducted a wave of air strikes on the south of Lebanon’s capital Beirut on Friday that it said targeted Hezbollah’s headquarters, moments after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to keep fighting the militant group.

The strikes, heard across the Mediterranean city, sent huge clouds of smoke soaring above its densely populated southern suburbs, the main bastion of Iran-backed Hezbollah.

Hezbollah has been fighting Israeli troops along the Lebanon border since its Palestinian ally Hamas staged its unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7.

Israel shifted its focus from the war in Gaza to Lebanon this week, unleashing air strikes on Hezbollah strongholds around the country that have killed hundreds and forced 118,000 more to flee their homes.

While Friday’s strikes on south Beirut were not this week’s first, they were by far the fiercest.

“Oh my God, what strikes. I felt like the building was going to collapse on top of me,” said Abir Hammoud, a teacher in her 40s who lives in the southern suburbs of Beirut.

Vowing to secure its border with Lebanon, Israel has since Monday pounded Hezbollah strongholds chiefly in the east and south of the country, defying calls from world leaders and aid agencies to halt the violence.

A source close to Hezbollah said the strikes levelled six buildings, and according to a preliminary toll, two people were killed and 76 wounded.

Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said the strike targeted “the central headquarters” of Hezbollah in the southern suburbs of the city.

Israeli television networks reported that Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah was the target of the strike, though the source close to Hezbollah said he was “fine”.

The bombing came moments after Netanyahu concluded his address to UN General Assembly delegates in New York, in which he vowed to keep up strikes against Hezbollah and fight “until victory” against Hamas.—AFP