According to the state-run National News Agency (NNA), the strikes targeted areas covered by the warnings, including the villages of Rihan and Sujud near Nabatieh, as well as other locations that were not included in the evacuation notices.

It said an Israeli strike killed a local official in Rihan, located in the southern region of Jezzine.

An AFP correspondent in Nabatieh said the city was almost deserted, and also reported artillery shelling there and in nearby areas overnight and on Saturday.

A day earlier, the NNA reported explosions and artillery shelling near the Ali Taher hills overlooking the city.

The Israeli army warned residents in 24 locations, both in and around Nabatieh and nearer to the coast, to "evacuate your homes immediately and move to the north of the Zahrani River", around 45 kilometres (28 miles) from the southern border with Israel.