BEIRUT: Official Lebanese media said five Israeli strikes hit south Beirut and its outskirts today, four of them "very violent", after the Israeli army called residents to evacuate the Hizbollah bastion.

"Israeli enemy warplanes carried out four very violent strikes on (Beirut's) southern suburbs, and one strike on the Chweifat" area, with ambulances rushing to the site, Lebanon's National News Agency said.

AFP correspondents in Beirut heard several explosions and saw smoke rising south of Beirut.

AFP footage showed plumes of smoke rising from the targeted areas, with one strike creating a ball of flame that rose into the air while flares shot up amid thick smoke.

The NNA later said air traffic at Lebanon's only airport in Beirut was "ongoing despite the Israeli enemy's aggression on the southern suburbs. Several Middle East Airlines planes have just landed."

 - AFP