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Beirut's southern suburbs were struck by precision airstrikes early on Saturday as Israel stepped up attacks on Hezbollah, after a massive strike on their command centre that targeted leader Hassan Nasrallah.

Over 20 airstrikes were heard by locals, according to agency reports. Locals evacuated their homes and gathered in public spaces out of fear of residential buildings being hit. Six residential buildings were hit late on Friday.

The airstrikes continued for five hours early on Saturday following Friday's attack, by far the most powerful by Israel on Beirut during nearly a year of war with Hezbollah. It marked a sharp escalation of a conflict that has involved daily missile and rocket fire between the two sides.

The latest escalation has sharply increased fears the conflict could potentially draw in Iran, Hezbollah's chief supporter, and consequently the US. There was no immediate confirmation of Nasrallah's fate after Friday's precision strikes , but few Hezbollah sources said that he was not reachable.

The Lebanese armed group has not made a statement yet. Israel has not said whether it tried to hit Nasrallah, but a senior Israeli official said top Hezbollah commanders were targeted. "I think it's too early to say... Sometimes they hide the fact when we succeed," the Israeli official told reporters when asked if the strike on Friday had killed Nasrallah.

A Hezbollah source has refuted these claims, saying that Nasrallah was alive. Iran's Tasnim news agency also reported the same.

A senior Iranian security official informed that Nasrallah’s status was being checked.

The Israeli military said that the commander of Hezbollah's missile unit, Muhammad Ali Ismail, and his deputy Hossein Ahmed Ismail were killed in the airstrikes.