Beirut/Cairo | Hundreds of Beirut residents fled their homes late on Sunday (Monday AEDT) after Israel’s military announced it is now taking aim at Lebanon-based Hezbollah’s financial arm and will hit a “large number of targets”. Explosions began in Beirut’s southern suburbs about an hour later.

Witnesses saw dense plumes of black smoke billowing in the air after at least 10 blasts. Eyewitnesses, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said a building located in the Chiyah neighbourhood in the southern suburbs of Beirut was reduced to rubble and the few people in the area had fled ahead of the explosion, resulting in no casualties.

Reuters and AP