Heavy strikes shake Beirut as Israel expands Lebanon campaign

Massive consecutive strikes hit Beirut's southern suburbs from late Saturday into Sunday, sending booms across the city and sparking flashes of red and white for nearly 30 minutes visible from several kilometres away.

The strikes came after days of bombing by Israel of Beirut suburbs considered strongholds for Hezbollah, killing its leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, and possibly his potential successor.

A Lebanese security source said on Saturday that Hashem Safieddine, the potential successor, had been out of contact since Friday, after an Israeli airstrike near the city's international airport that was reported to have targeted him.

Lebanese security sources said Israeli strikes since Friday on Dahiyeh, a residential area and Hezbollah stronghold south of central Beirut, have kept rescue workers from scouring the site of Thursday night's attack.

Hezbollah has made no comment so far on Safieddine.

Israel has been expanding its actions in Lebanon. On Saturday, it made its first strike in the northern city of Tripoli, a Lebanese security official said, and Israeli troops launched raids in the south.

At least eight strikes rocked Beirut’s southern suburbs late on Saturday including close to the airport, after the Israeli military warned some residents to flee.

Israeli military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said on Saturday that Israel had killed 440 Hezbollah fighters in its ground operations in southern Lebanon and destroyed 2,000 Hezbollah targets. Hezbollah has not released death tolls.

Israel says it stepped up its assault on Hezbollah to enable the safe return of tens of thousands of citizens to homes in northern Israel, bombarded by the group since last October 8.

Israeli authorities said on Saturday that nine Israeli soldiers had been killed in southern Lebanon so far.

The Israeli assault has also killed hundreds of ordinary Lebanese, Lebanese officials say, and forced 1.2 million people - almost a quarter of the population - from their homes.

The Lebanese security official told Reuters that Saturday's strike on a Palestinian refugee camp in Tripoli killed a member of Hamas, his wife and two children. Media affiliated with the Palestinian group said the strike killed a leader of its armed wing, naming him as Saeed Atallah.

The Israeli said in a statement that it had killed two Hamas members operating in Lebanon, but did not say whether they had been in Tripoli, a Sunni Muslim-majority port city also targeted during a 2006 war with Hezbollah

There was no immediate comment from Hamas.

In northern Israel, air raid sirens on Saturday sent people running for shelters amid rocket fire from Lebanon.

Hezbollah said it had fired missiles at what it called "ATA company for military industries near Sakhnin base," close to Haifa. It was not immediately clear what Hezbollah was referring to.

The Israeli army said two projectiles had crossed from Lebanon, one of which was intercepted while the other landed but caused no damage.