Gallant says Israel is 'destroying' Hezbollah as Lebanon bombing escalates | Israel attacks Lebanon news

The Israeli military has attacked the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital Beirut and attacked southern Lebanon as Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant claimed the army would “destroy” the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.

Lebanon's official National News Agency (NNA) reported on Sunday that Israeli strikes in Dahiyeh – a southern suburb of Beirut – hit a residential building in the Haret Hreik neighborhood near a mosque and a hospital.

The Israeli military said it hit the “command center of Hezbollah's intelligence headquarters” and an underground weapons facility in Beirut, and killed three Hezbollah fighters in other attacks.

A video of the bombing posted on social media showed a multi-story building being hit.

Israel also warned on Sunday that it planned to launch airstrikes on Hezbollah's so-called financing arm, al-Qard al-Hassan, as part of its war with the group, which has escalated significantly since September and resulted in the killing of Hezbollah, the leader of the by Iran-backed group, Hassan Nasrallah.

The Israeli military asked people living near locations of al-Qard al-Hassan – a bank with branches across the country – in Beirut and elsewhere to evacuate.

This came after Gallant told troops on Sunday that the military would step up its attacks on Hezbollah.

He said they would not only “defeat the enemy (Hezbollah), but we are also destroying them in all the villages along the border, in the places that Hezbollah wanted to use as launching pads for attacks on Israel.”

Al Jazeera's Imran Khan reported from Hasbaiyya in southern Lebanon and said people living in the building that was attacked had nowhere to go.

“They were asked to evacuate at very short notice by the Israeli military and then there were several airstrikes,” he said.

Attacks in southern Lebanon

The attacks in southern Beirut came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Hezbollah of trying to assassinate him by attacking his residence in Caesarea, Israel.

Later on Sunday, the Lebanese army, which is not taking part in the war, said three of its soldiers were killed in an Israeli attack on their vehicle in southern Lebanon.

Local security sources told German news agency DPA that the Israeli army had almost destroyed several villages in southern Lebanon and razed houses and mosques.

According to the report, the military blew up the town of Ramyah in the Bint Jbeil district of southern Lebanon.

A separate NNA report said Israel was carrying out large-scale bombing of buildings in the southern Lebanese towns of Odaisseh, Markaba and Rab el-Thalathine.

NNA reported 14 Israeli attacks within 15 minutes on a single border village, Khiam, illustrating the intensity of the fighting.

Israeli strikes hit dozens of locations in southern Lebanon for the third time this week, including the city of Nabatea, it said.

An Israeli strike hit and partially destroyed a Hezbollah rescue center in Deir el-Zahrani in southern Lebanon, NNA reported.

The Israeli military said it “attacked and eliminated over 65 Hezbollah terrorists … and attacked dozens of Hezbollah terrorist targets” in southern Lebanon.

While Israel claims its stated goal is to destroy Hezbollah's infrastructure in southern Lebanon, it has issued a wave of forced evacuation orders for hundreds of villages in the south, leading to mass displacement.

It also bombed cities in the north of the country and places far from Hezbollah-controlled areas.

Attacks on northern Israel

Hezbollah reported new attacks in northern Israel on Sunday. Sirens blared in at least seven towns near the border with Lebanon to warn of incoming rockets.

According to the Israeli army, around 70 rockets were fired from Lebanon at Israel. Some were intercepted by the missile defense system, others hit open areas and started fires.

Hours after Israel said it would step up its attacks on the group, Hezbollah said it had fired separate barrages of rockets at Israel, targeting three Israeli military bases near Haifa, Safed and Tiberias.

It also said rockets were fired at Israeli troops near two border villages, Markaba and Odaisseh. NNA claimed Israeli forces blew up buildings with explosives there and in a third village, Rab el-Thalathine.

Al Jazeera's Mohammed Jamjoom reported that Israeli authorities had been particularly concerned about Safed, in northern Israel, in recent hours, with shrapnel reportedly falling in the area.

“In recent weeks there have been major rocket attacks from Lebanon on areas such as Safed and the city of Haifa, especially in northern Israel,” he said.

Haifa, a strategic city, is home to Israel's main naval base. It is home to oil refineries and other military infrastructure and has a population of about 300,000.

“This is a big problem – the fact that rockets continue to be fired towards the north and some are hitting there,” Jamjoom said.