NNA also reported that a strike had landed near Beirut's airport, the main entry point of humanitarian assistance to the country and a major evacuation hub for those fleeing the conflict.

Other strikes hit the finance organization in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley and the country's south, NNA added.

Overnight, Reuters witnesses saw plumes of black smoke billowing in the air after at least 10 blasts in Beirut suburbs.

According to witnesses, panicked crowds clogged streets and caused traffic jams in some parts of the city as they tried to get to neighbourhoods thought to be safer.

Eyewitnesses said a building located in the Chiyah neighbourhood in Beirut's southern suburbs was reduced to rubble and the few people in the area had fled ahead of the explosion, resulting in no casualties.

The Israeli army warned it was about to attack the Al-Qard Al-Hassan offices, calling on residents to move away from its facilities. Strikes began shortly after.

Al-Qard Al-Hassan, which in Arabic means “the benevolent loan," is a registered nonprofit organization in Lebanon that the US and Saudi Arabia sanction.

It provides financial services, is used by ordinary Lebanese, and has more than 30 branches across Lebanon including 15 in densely populated parts of central Beirut and its suburbs.

In a statement, Al-Qard Al-Hassan called the decision to target it a sign of Israel’s “bankruptcy” and assured customers it had taken “measures” to ensure their funds were safe.

A stream of people left the areas surrounding its branches in Beirut.

Evacuation warnings affected southern Beirut, the eastern Bekaa Valley, and parts south of Lebanon. 

In one evacuation notice, for the Choueifat area south of Beirut, the Israeli military mislabeled one target, causing confusion and panic.  AP reported that the location was labelled Grand Cinema ABC Verdun, a theatre in an upscale shopping mall in central Beirut more than 10 kilometres (6 miles) away.

Soon after, Hezbollah said it had downed an Israeli Hermes 450 drone Sunday, without saying where.

The group also said it had fired several rocket salvos at Israeli troops across the border.

Smoke fumes cover a neighbourhood of Beirut's southern suburbs near Beirut International Airport following an Israeli airstrike. AFP

Targeting UN forces
 

The United Nations peacekeeping mission UNIFIL in southern Lebanon said the Israeli army had "deliberately" damaged one of their positions, the latest incident reported by the force.

An Israeli "army bulldozer deliberately had demolished an observation tower and perimeter fence of a UN position," the UNIFIL said.

Four days earlier, European Union nations with troops in the thousands-strong mission had agreed to "exert maximum political and diplomatic pressure on Israel" to prevent further "incidents" against UNIFIL, after repeated Israeli attacks on the UN force.

Silent streets 
 

Earlier Sunday, the Israeli army claimed it hit the "command centre of Hezbollah's intelligence headquarters" and weapons facility in south Beirut.

A month ago, south Beirut's bustling streets were packed with traffic, families strolling about, and youths in cafes. Now silence dominates the area.

About 70 projectiles were fired from Lebanon into Israel Sunday within a matter of minutes, the military said, adding it had intercepted some of them.

The NNA later reported 14 Israeli strikes in the space of 15 minutes on a single border village, Khiam.

The Lebanese army, which is not fighting in the war, said three of its soldiers had been killed in an Israeli strike on their vehicle in southern Lebanon.

Israel's army claimed it had killed more than 65 Hezbollah fighters during strikes in southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah said Sunday it had fired rocket barrages at Israel, including against military bases near Haifa, Safed, and Tiberias on the Sea of Galilee.

Israeli firefighters used aircraft to battle flames after a rocket strike near Rosh Pinna in the Safed area.

Hezbollah also said it attacked the City of Haifa. AFPTV images showed puffs of smoke in the sky above the port of Haifa as air defences intercepted rockets and a siren wailed.

Lebanese officials estimate that Israel has killed over 2,400 people and displaced more than 1.2 million people in Lebanon over the last year. 

Ceasefire talks
 

Israel's attacks came a day after US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin called civilian casualties in Lebanon “far too high,” urging Israel to scale back some strikes, especially in and around Beirut.

However, Washington has made it clear it will show unwavering support for Israel despite rising death tolls.

The US army rushed to Israel its advanced anti-missile system, the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), and it is now "in place," Austin said during a trip to Kyiv, Reuters reported.

As Israel expanded its war, US envoy Amos Hochstein is set to hold talks with Lebanese officials in Beirut on Monday on conditions for a ceasefire, two sources told Reuters,  

Hochstein is set to meet Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Speaker of the Parliament Nabih Berri on Monday.

Berri told an Al-Arabiya broadcaster over the weekend that Hochstein's visit was "the last chance before the US elections" to reach a truce, adding that he would reject any amendments to United Nations resolution 1701, which ended the last bloody Israeli war on Lebanon in 2006. 

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