New Delhi, May 29 -- A day after the Israeli military urged residents across southern Lebanon to evacuate as it plans to scale up operations in the area, Tel Aviv launched an attack in southern Lebanon and struck the Beirut area on Thursday (local time).

Despite a fragile ceasefire in place, the Israeli military widened its offensive with the first strike near the country's capital in weeks, AFP reported.

Citing a Lebanese military source, the report stated that during the strike, an apartment situated south of Beirut was targeted in what was the second such raid since the ceasefire in the war between Israel and the militant group Hezbollah came into effect on 17 April.

The escalation came shortly before the scheduled talks between Isr...