Massive Blast Near Beirut Airport Sparks Panic, Smoke Engulfs City | Israel-Hezbollah Conflict

Blasts were heard in Lebanon's capital Beirut and smoke billowed the dark skyline after the Israeli military said Sunday it will hit a "large number of targets". The army announced it will now take aim at the Lebanon-based Hezbollah's financial arm in Beirut and elsewhere in the coming hours. Explosions began in Beirut's southern suburbs about an hour later. The strikes aim to target al-Qard al-Hassan "all over Lebanon,” a senior Israeli intelligence official said. Al-Qard al-Hassan is a unit in Hezbollah that's used to pay operatives of the Iran-backed militant group and help buy arms, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with army regulations. A year of escalating tensions and frequent cross-border fire between Israel and Hezbollah over the war in Gaza turned into all-out war last month, and Israel sent ground troops into Lebanon early this month.