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.

Israel's strike on a multi-storey residential building in central Beirut's Basta district has killed at least 11 people, with the number expected to rise.

Israel was targeting a senior Hezbollah commander, but failed to kill him, one Israeli official said. Hezbollah officials said none of the group’s leaders were at the attack site.