Beirut, 3 October 2024 (dpa/MIA) - Israel launched a fresh series of attacks on the Lebanese capital of Beirut on Thursday.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) "conducted a precise strike in Beirut," it said in a statement, adding that more details would follow.

Residents of some areas in Beirut's southern suburbs were then called to evacuate the area by the IDF.

Eyewitnesses in Beirut reported at least two attacks on a southern suburb of the capital in the early hours of Thursday.

The Lebanese Health Ministry said at least five people had been killed and eight injured in a strike targeting an apartment in central Beirut's Bashoura area.

The sounds of explosions could be heard throughout the city and videos on social media showed thick clouds of smoke rising into the sky.

It is the second time this week that Israel has hit central Beirut.

The international community fears the Middle East could slip into all-out war after Tuesday's Iranian missile barrage on Israel and with fronts already open in Lebanon and Gaza, where the Jewish state is fighting Islamist groups Hezbollah and Hamas allied to Tehran.

At least 46 people had been killed and 85 wounded in Israeli strikes on Lebanon over the past 24 hours, Lebanese authorities said late on Wednesday.

Israeli strikes have killed more than 1,000 people in Lebanon over the past two weeks, the Lebanese Health Ministry added.

Photo: MIA archive