Dozens of buildings razed in Israeli strikes on south Beirut: AFP

Dozens of buildings in Beirut have been completely destroyed by intense Israeli strikes overnight after Israel said it had killed Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, an AFP photographer on the ground reported Saturday.

Thousands of people left the usually densely packed residential southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital following Israeli evacuation orders.

Some buildings were still burning on Saturday morning, with smoke billowing over several locations in south Beirut, also known as Dahiyeh.

Rubble and twisted metal filled the streets, clogging roads in some areas.

Even Lebanese army checkpoints at the entrance of the suburb were deserted, the photographer said.

Israel's military announced Saturday that Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli air strike on Beirut the previous night.

"Hassan Nasrallah is dead," Israeli military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani announced on X.

There has been no official confirmation of his death from the Iran-backed group.

Israeli jets pounded Beirut's south and its outskirts throughout the night in the most intense attacks on the Hezbollah stronghold since the group and Israel last went to war in 2006.

Thousands of residents camped out overnight in streets, public squares and makeshift shelters after Israel late Friday ordered them out.

Israel said it was attacking the Iran-backed group's headquarters and weapons facilities in the Lebanese capital.