Lebanon says 11 killed in Israeli strike on central Beirut

Beirut, Lebanon: Lebanon said an Israeli air strike on the heart of its capital that brought down a residential building and jolted residents across the city on Saturday killed at least 11 people.

The attack in Beirut was followed by others in the city's southern suburbs after calls by the Israeli military to evacuate the area.

Israel has not commented on the strike in central Beirut, while Hezbollah has yet to mention it.

Rescue operations were underway in the area on Saturday morning, with an excavator removing the rubble of the eight-storey building, and a fire truck and civil defence rescuers stationed nearby.

"The strike was so strong it felt like the building was about to fall on our heads," said Samir, 60, who lives in a building facing the one that was destroyed.

He said he fled his home in the middle of the night with his wife and children.

"We saw two dead people on the ground... The children started crying and their mother cried even more," he told AFP.

The Israeli strike, which hit the working-class Basta neighbourhood, killed at least 11 people and wounded 63, the health ministry said, adding it had also left behind "a large amount of body parts that are being identified".

"The final death toll will be determined after DNA tests are carried out," the ministry said in a statement.

The state-run National News Agency said Israeli jets had launched six missiles at the structure, causing "widespread destruction in buildings" nearby.

The predawn attack in Basta was not preceded by an evacuation warning from Israel's military. Similar strikes carried out without warning outside of Hezbollah's traditional bastions have tended to target high-level members.

Another strike hit the neighbourhood of Hadath in Beirut's southern suburbs, which are a stronghold of Hezbollah.

The Israeli military said it had struck Hezbollah targets in the city's southern suburbs including "several Hezbollah command centres".