Israel has carried out two air strikes against a quarter in Syrian Damascus and one of the capital's suburbs, according to the state-controlled news agency Sana. At least 15 people have been killed, and 16 injured, according to a military source.
One of the targets of the attacks was an office belonging to the Islamist group Islamic Jihad, and a representative of the group says that several members have been killed.
In eastern Lebanon, several people have been killed in an Israeli attack on the city of Baalbek, according to the country's health department. Work is underway to identify the individuals.
Many attacks on Beirut
The first reports of attacks on southern Beirut came around midnight on Thursday, shortly after the Israeli military issued a warning to immediately leave two areas in the suburb of al-Dahiya as it was about to attack Hezbollah targets there.
In the morning, the southern parts of the Lebanese capital were attacked again, and then again in the morning hours – and again around lunchtime. All the attacks have been preceded by Israeli calls to leave the area.
Tall smoke columns
According to media reports, it is the suburb of al-Dahiya, one of the Iran-backed Shia militia Hezbollah's strongest strongholds, that has been attacked repeatedly. It is also in that area that the Israeli military claims to have hit around 30 targets.
The attacks on al-Dahiya are part of an "ongoing operation to dismantle and impair Hezbollah's military capability", writes the Israeli military on the messaging service Telegram.
In pictures and video clips, tall smoke columns are seen rising from densely populated areas in southern Beirut. According to preliminary reports in the Lebanese newspaper L'Orient-Le Jour, several people have been injured.
