JERUSALEM: Two Israeli air strikes targeted south Beirut on Sunday after the Israeli army warned civilians to evacuate the stronghold of Lebanon's Hezbollah movement, state media said.
The reported strikes came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement of trying to assassinate him by attacking his residence.
"Enemy (Israeli) airplanes carried out two strikes this morning on Beirut's southern suburbs, one of them hitting a residential building in Haret Hreik" near a mosque and a hospital, the National News Agency reported.
The Israeli military had earlier issued an "urgent warning" for civilians living near buildings it said were affiliated with Hezbollah in the neighbourhood to immediately evacuate.
"You are located near facilities and interests affiliated with Hezbollah, which the IDF (Israeli army) will work against in the near future," the military's Arabic spokesman Avichay Adraee said on Telegram.
"For your safety and the safety of your family members, you must evacuate the building and those adjacent to it immediately and move away from it for a distance of no less than 500 metres."
Similar warnings have preceded Israeli air strikes in recent weeks after Israel stepped up its campaign against Iran-backed Hezbollah, which has a stronghold in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital.
Israel army says hit Hezbollah 'command centre' in Beirut
The Israeli military said it carried out a strike Sunday on a Hezbollah command centre and underground weapons facility in the Lebanese capital Beirut.
The Israeli military said it also killed three Hezbollah militants in other strikes in southern Lebanon where it says its troops are engaged in targeted raids.
Netanyahu's office on Saturday said a drone was launched towards his residence in the central town of Caesarea, but he and his wife were not home and there were no injuries.
"The attempt by Iran's proxy Hezbollah to assassinate me and my wife today was a grave mistake," Netanyahu said in a statement.
"Anyone who tries to harm Israel's citizens will pay a heavy price," he said in comments directed at Tehran and "its proxies," which include Lebanon's Hezbollah, a group Israel has been at war with since late September.
Iran said Hezbollah, which it arms and finances, was behind the attack on Netanyahu's residence.
"This action was taken by the Lebanese Hezbollah," Iran's mission to the United Nations said in response to a question about its role in the attack, according to Iran's official IRNA news agency.
Hezbollah has not claimed the attack.
Israel has vowed to retaliate against Iran, its regional arch foe, for an October 1 missile barrage. Iran has warned it will hit back.
Israel and Hezbollah had been trading near-daily fire across the Lebanese border since the outbreak of the war in Gaza last year.
But Israel sharply escalated its campaign late last month, launching devastating air strikes and deploying ground forces.
Since late September, the war has killed at least 1,454 people in Lebanon, according to an AFP tally of Lebanese health ministry figures.
