Five Israeli airstrikes hit southern suburbs of Beirut

Israeli warplanes launched five new airstrikes on Beirut's southern suburbs on Monday.

This coincided with Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam's announcement of a ban on Hezbollah's security and military activities, confining its role to the political sphere. He also instructed the army to implement a plan to restrict weapons to the state north of the Litani River.

The Lebanese National News Agency reported that "Israeli aircraft targeted Beirut's southern suburbs with four airstrikes," without providing further details.

The extent of casualties from the bombing was not immediately clear.

For its part, the Israeli army announced in a statement the start of a new offensive against Lebanon, claiming it was attacking Hezbollah targets.

Israel has been violating a ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah, in place since November 2014, on an almost daily basis, resulting in hundreds of deaths and injuries.

In a later statement, the agency reported that "Israeli aircraft carried out a fifth airstrike on the suburbs, as plumes of smoke rose into the sky over the area."

She added that "an enemy drone carried out a warning strike a short while ago on the southern suburbs, while drones have continued to fly over the area since this morning."

Early Monday, Hezbollah targeted an Israeli military site with a barrage of rockets and drones in retaliation for Israel's ongoing attacks on Lebanon and Tel Aviv's assassination of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.