The widening conflict risks drawing in the United States, which has provided crucial military and diplomatic support to Israel, as well as U.S.-allied Arab countries that host American forces.

Massive consecutive strikes hit Beirut's southern suburbs overnight, Reuters eyewitnesses said, sending booms across the city and sparking flashes of red and white for nearly 30 minutes visible from several kilometres away.

Israel says it aims to drive Hezbollah away from the border so the thousands of Israelis displaced by months of almost daily cross-border fire can return to their homes.

The attack on the Beddawi refugee camp near the northern city of Tripoli killed an official with Hamas’s military wing, along with his wife and two young daughters, the Palesitnian militant group said in a statement.

Israeli forces issued fresh evacuation warnings for southern Beirut, as Hamas say one of its commanders was killed in Israeli strikes on Tripoli.

Consecutive explosions in the Southern suburb of Beirut due to the ongoing Israeli Strikes.

Israel has been targeting Hezbollah in Beirut, days after Iran launched retaliatory missile attacks after a ground invasion of Lebanon.