Amid fears of an expanding war in the Middle East following mass detonations of bombs surreptitiously planted in Hezbollah communication devices, Israel continued its assault of the Iran-backed militia overnight.

In a statement, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) says that it also struck "a weapons storage facility in multiple areas in southern Lebanon" which it claims contained "approximately 150 launcher barrels that were ready to fire projectiles toward Israeli territory".

The Israeli military said it had carried out a “targeted strike” in Beirut, offering no further immediate details, but explosions could be heard coming from the city’s southern suburbs