Israel has targeted the new leader of Hezbollah in massive air strike on Beirut, according to reports.

The IDF pounded the Lebanese capital with a bombing raid in the early hours of Friday morning.

According to Axios, sources said the attack was aimed at Hashem Safieddine, the presumed successor to Hassan Nasrallah, the Hezbollah leader who was killed in an Israeli air strike in Dahiyeh last week.

Witnesses said Friday’s strikes were similar to the explosions that killed Nasrallah, with reports of a rolling sequence of blasts.

Israel reportedly used dozens of 2,000lb “bunker-buster” bombs in its strike on Nasrallah.

Hezbollah has not commented on Friday’s raid but a source confirmed to AFP that Israel “struck the southern suburbs 11 consecutive times”.