New blasts heard in Lebanon as Israel vows to hit Hezbollah financial centers

The Israeli military has warned civilians in 24 locations in Lebanon – including 14 in the capital Beirut – that it plans to carry out strikes in the coming hours and throughout the night.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it will target banks and other financial infrastructure that support Hezbollah.

Later, the BBC’s Beirut correspondent said there had been eight airstrikes in the provincial capital of Dahieh, an area controlled by Hezbollah.

Lebanese media also reported that there was a strike in the east of the country. It is not clear whether there are any casualties.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah said it had fired more rockets at Israel on Sunday, targeting military ports.

In a statement on Sunday evening, IDF spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari warned that “anyone who is near areas used to support Hezbollah’s terrorist activities must leave these areas immediately”.

“We will be hitting several restrictions in the coming hours and some additional targets throughout the night,” he said.

“In the coming days, we will reveal how Iran supports Hezbollah’s terrorist activities through public institutions, organizations, and NGOs that work as part of terrorism,” said an Israeli spokesman.

Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) reported a strike by Al-Qard Al-Hassan in the east of the country’s Bekaa Valley.

Israel accuses the organization of funding Hezbollah.

Earlier, the IDF said dozens of explosives had been fired into northern Israel in the past 24 hours.

It also said its warplanes carried out an “intelligence-based strike on the directorate of Hezbollah’s intelligence headquarters and an underground weapons workshop in Beirut”.

It says measures have been taken to “reduce the possibility of killing people”.

Israel has been accused by Hezbollah and Lebanese officials of targeting civilians, which it denies.

Earlier on Sunday, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) accused the IDF of deliberately demolishing an observation tower and a fence bordering a UN position in the southern Lebanese town of Marwahin on the Israeli border. It follows similar incidents in recent weeks.

“Currently, we recognize that violating the UN position and damaging UN property is a clear violation of international law and Security Council resolution 1701,” Unifil said in a statement.

In another incident, the Lebanese army said three of its soldiers were killed after an army vehicle was hit by Israeli jets in Nabatieh, southern Lebanon.

Israel has not yet commented on the two reported incidents.

Lebanon’s military has historically stayed out of the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah – but a number of its soldiers have been killed in Israeli airstrikes since the conflict escalated last month.

Hezbollah – Lebanon’s most powerful terrorist group – says it has been shelling Israeli positions in cooperation with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Both Hezbollah and Hamas are supported by Iran.