Massive explosions have rocked Beirut with the IDF apparently stepping up its attack on the Lebanese capital.

Dramatic footage screened by the BBC shows an enormous blast lighting up the night sky, with one journalist counting at least six. It remains unclear precisely what was hit.

Nafiseh Kohnavard, Middle East correspondent, BBC World Service, who is in Beirut, said: "I have heard at least six loud explosions in Beirut.

"Clouds of smoke are billowing over the southern suburbs, while drones buzz overhead."

She added: "Lebanese media reports that two strikes targeted locations in the Choueifat area, close to the airport, local media report, while three more hit other locations in the suburbs.

"The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has not commented."She explained: "This is becoming a routine for Beirut around midnight."First a heavy drone buzzing, then a warning from IDF and then after a round of explosions shake the whole town."Israel's military yesterday carried out airstrikes outside a hospital in southern Lebanon without warning, killing seven paramedics and forcing the facility to close, the hospital's director reported.The attack, one of the deadliest on health workers since fighting intensified between Israel and Hezbollah, flung the hospital doors off their hinges and shattered windows.

The director of Marjayoun hospital, Mounes Kalakesh, explained that even before Friday's airstrike, ambulance crews were so fearful of operating in the area that the hospital had not received any casualties for days.

She said: "We haven't been able to function. There was fear and panic among the staff."

Separately, an Israeli strike on a refugee camp in north Lebanon has killed Hamas official Saeed Atallah Ali and his family, the militant group said Saturday.

Hamas later said another military wing member was killed in an Israeli strike in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley.

The strikes come a day after another Israeli airstrike cut off a main highway linking Lebanon with Syria, leaving two huge craters on either side of the road.Israel began a ground incursion Tuesday into Lebanon against the Hezbollah militant group. The Israeli military said nine soldiers have died in the conflict in southern Lebanon.