BEIRUT – Israel has carried out at least a dozen air strikes on Beirut on Saturday in the heaviest attack the Lebanese capital witnessed in more than a week. Huge plumes of smoke were seen rising over the city’s southern suburbs, where Hezbollah’s main base is located.

In some cases the Israeli military gave warnings to residents to get out, but not much time – in one place just a few minutes. Damage and casualties were still being assessed, but at least one multi-storey building had been completely destroyed. The Israeli military said it had targeted Hezbollah’s weapons storage facilities and its intelligence headquarters command centre in Dahieh.

Also on Saturday, Hezbollah said it fired rockets at the Israeli city of Haifa and areas to its north. One man was killed by shrapnel, Israeli medics said. After three quiet days in Beirut, the southern suburbs were once again thundering with the sound of Israeli air strikes on Saturday. Thick, billowing smoke, black at first, then grey, rose from several neighbourhoods, darkening the sky. Two of the strikes were close to Beirut’s airport, which is still being used for scheduled civilian flights.

In the space of one hour, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) issued three urgent evacuation warnings to residents in several districts in the area. Israeli forces were also continuing to target areas outside of Beirut. North of the city, one couple was filmed trying to escape a suspected Israeli drone. They stopped their car on the side of a highway and ran into the undergrowth, but were killed by a reported missile strike, according to Lebanese state-run National News Agency (NNA).

Elsewhere in Lebanon, NNA reported that five people were killed – including a local mayor – in an Israeli strike in the eastern Bekaa Valley region. Several others were wounded in what the NNA said was a strike on a residential apartment. Israel said it is hitting targets in Lebanon linked to the Iran-backed Hezbollah group. The latest Israeli strikes come after the IDF said more than 100 rockets were fired into Israel from Lebanon.

A drone also targeted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s private residence in the northern coastal city of Caesarea on Saturday morning. The prime minister was not home at the time. The previously sporadic cross-border fighting between Hezbollah and Israel escalated in October 2023 – when the Lebanese militant group fired at Israeli positions, in solidarity with Hamas in Gaza. US President Joe Biden has said there is a chance of “working towards a ceasefire” in Lebanon, where Israel is fighting Hezbollah militants, but it will be “harder in Gaza”. (BBC)

BUENOS AIRES – The body of British musician Liam Payne, who died Wednesday in Buenos Aires, will not be delivered to his family until authorities conclude the final clinical tests, a source told CNN Saturday.

Authorities expect it to happen next week but did not rule out the possibility results could be ready as soon as this weekend. Geoff Payne, father of the former One Direction singer, arrived in Buenos Aires on Friday. The source told CNN authorities allowed Payne to see his son’s body in the morgue.

Payne also visited the hotel where his son had stayed. CNN previously reported Payne wanted to visit his son’s room but was not allowed to enter due to the ongoing investigation. Instead, his father was able to see a similar room on another floor. He also greeted fans outside the hotel, thanking them for their outpouring of support, and viewing the memorial filled with photos, letters, candles and flowers.

Liam Payne died Wednesday after falling from the third floor of his hotel. The cause of his death was “polytrauma” with “internal and external bleeding,” according to the preliminary autopsy report, although toxicological tests are still pending. The former One Direction star’s fatal fall Wednesday at CasaSur Palermo Hotel remains under investigation by authorities, who are looking into the circumstances surrounding his final moments. The public prosecutor’s office in Argentina said Thursday, “everything indicates that the musician was alone when the fall occurred.” The prosecutor’s office also suspects Payne, who was previously open about his struggle with addiction and his mental health, was potentially “experiencing some kind of episode due to substance abuse” at the time.

Payne’s tragic death has left fans and the music industry reeling, with celebrity tributes pouring in from all corners of the world. His former band One Direction, formed in 2010, remains one of the bestselling boy bands of all time. Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik – the remaining members of One Direction – honored their friend and former bandmate Thursday with a group statement and several individual remembrances. “We’re completely devastated by the news of Liam’s passing,” the band’s joint statement read. “The memories we shared with him will be treasured forever.” (CNN)