A powerful Israeli air strike flattened a residential building in central Beirut early Saturday, killing at least 11 people and wounding 63 others, according to witnesses and the Health Ministry's initial count.

Israel has carried out massive air strikes on central Beirut, Lebanese media say, and there are reports of several deaths. An eight-storey residential building was completely destroyed with five missiles in the capital's Basta district, according to Lebanon's National News Agency (NNA).

A powerful airstrike killed 11 people in central Beirut on Saturday, the health ministry said, shaking the capital as Israel pressed its offensive against the Iran-backed Hezbollah group.

A powerful airstrike killed 11 people in central Beirut on Saturday, the Lebanese civil defence said, shaking the capital as Israel pressed its offensive against the Iran-backed Hezbollah group.

At least 11 people have been killed and several others injured after an Israeli strike flattened a multi-story residential building in central Beirut overnight, Lebanese officials said.

When Lebanese carpenter Samir awoke in a panic Saturday to the sound of explosions and screams, he thought his own building in central Beirut had been hit by an air raid.As it turned out, the early morning air strike -- which killed at least 11 people and injured 63,

The attack was the third strike in the Lebanese capital this week, part of a wave of amped-up Israeli military activity across the country.

The ministry said 63 people were wounded in the fourth wave of strikes in the Lebanese capital in less than a week. Strikes also continued in Gaza on Saturday.

A powerful airstrike killed at least four people in central Beirut early on Saturday, the health ministry said, shaking the Lebanese capital as Israel pressed its offensive against the Iran-backed Hezbollah group.

Meanwhile, a drone struck what appeared to be fishing boats in the southern port city of Tyre, according to an Associated Press journalist.

An Israeli air strike in central Beirut killed at least four people early Saturday, bringing down a residential building and jolting residents across the city out of bed as Israel kept up its air campaign against Hezbollah.