AFPTV images showed smoke billowing from the area.

The National News Agency said that "Israeli warplanes struck the Hadath neighbourhood in Beirut's southern suburbs", referring to a densely populated area home to residential buildings and schools.

The Israeli warning for a building in Beirut's southern suburbs, where Hezbollah has strong support, sparked panic in the area, with parents rushing to pick up their children from schools that quickly shut, AFP correspondents said.

Heavy traffic clogged roads around the southern suburbs as many residents of the area, which Israel heavily bombed during two months of war with Hezbollah from September last year, tried to flee, the correspondents added.