Beirut, Lebanon - Israeli airstrikes hit the southern suburbs of Beirut on Saturday, Lebanese state media said, shortly after Israel ordered residents to evacuate, marking the first attacks in three days on Hezbollah's main stronghold.

AFP footage showed plumes of smoke rising over the area, less than an hour after the Israeli military issued an evacuation order.

Lebanon's official National News Agency reported two Israeli strikes on the same building in the neighborhood of Haret Hreik, and later added that "Israeli warplanes" had struck the Al-Umara neighborhood in nearby Choueifat.

Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee issued an "urgent warning to residents of the southern suburb (of Dahiyeh), specifically those in... Haret Hreik neighborhood."

Joke of the Day Joke of the Night for October 16, 2024: The best jokes to laugh the day away

"You are located near facilities and interests belonging to Hezbollah, against which the IDF (Israeli military) will be operating in the near future," he wrote in Arabic on X.

Adraee later also issued warnings for the Burj al-Barajneh and Choueifat neighborhoods.

On September 23, Israel launched an intense air campaign on Lebanon and later sent in ground forces in a major escalation of its aggressive military actions in the region.

Since late September, Israel has killed at least 1,418 people in Lebanon, according to an AFP tally of Lebanese health ministry figures, though the real toll is likely higher.