A powerful Israeli airstrike targeted central Beirut on Saturday, security sources said, shaking the Lebanese capital as Israel pressed its offensive against the Iran-backed Hezbollah group.

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).

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.