Multiple explosions in Beirut as Israel says it attacked Hezbollah headquarters | Attacks between Israel and Lebanon News

Israel said the attack targeted Hezbollah's “central headquarters” in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital.

Israel has carried out several airstrikes in the Lebanese capital Beirut, reportedly targeting the headquarters of the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.

The series of massive explosions sent huge clouds of smoke billowing over the densely populated Haret Hreik neighborhood in Dahiyeh, southern Beirut, at dusk on Friday.

The Israeli military said the attack targeted the Iran-aligned group's “central headquarters,” located “among residential buildings in the heart of the Dahiyeh in Beirut.”

Several buildings in the Haret Hreik district of Dahiyeh were reduced to rubble, Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV reported. The explosion rattled windows and shook houses about 30 kilometers (18 miles) north of Beirut. Ambulances could be seen driving to the scene of the accident with sirens blaring.

At least two people were killed and 76 others injured in the attack, the Lebanese Health Ministry said, noting that the figure was provisional.

“The attack in the Beirut suburb of Haret Hreik destroyed an entire block near Beirut International Airport and around six to nine buildings were either completely or partially destroyed,” Al Jazeera's Ali Hashem said in a report from Tire in southern Lebanon.

“Israel has been working specifically in recent weeks to attack the southern suburbs of Beirut and to target Hezbollah commanders in various areas in an attempt to destroy the group's chain of command,” he added.

Israel has already struck targets in Dahiyeh four times in the last week, killing at least three senior Hezbollah military commanders.

But Friday's attack was far more violent, with multiple explosions shattering windows across the city and reminiscent of Israeli airstrikes during the 2006 war with Hezbollah.

The bombing came shortly after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu finished his speech to delegates to the U.N. General Assembly in New York, in which he vowed to continue attacks against Hezbollah and fight until “total victory” in Gaza.

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said the attack showed Israel did not care about global calls for a ceasefire in Lebanon.

The Iranian embassy in Lebanon said the attack represented a “serious escalation” and that the “perpetrator will be punished appropriately.”

A Pentagon spokesman said the United States had no advance warning of the attack and that U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant during the operation.

“The United States was not involved in this operation and we had no warning,” spokeswoman Sabrina Singh told reporters.

It appeared to be the fiercest attack in nearly a year of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, which has fired cross-border gunfire almost daily since October, when the Lebanese group announced it would carry out attacks on Israel in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza amid the Israeli war on the territory.

The fighting has forced tens of thousands of people to flee on both sides of the Israel-Lebanon border.

The Israeli military has dramatically escalated the conflict in recent days. At least 25 people were killed in Israeli strikes early Friday, Health Minister Firass Abiad said, bringing Lebanon's death toll to over 720 this week. He said dozens of women and children were among the dead.

In his address to the U.N. General Assembly, Netanyahu said operations against Hezbollah “will continue until we achieve our objectives.”