An “Israeli enemy strike this morning on a building” in the centre of the coastal city “led to a provisional toll of five dead and 10 wounded”, a health ministry statement said.

It added that “work is ongoing to remove the rubble”.

An AFP video journalist saw emergency personnel rush a survivor to an ambulance on a stretcher, while other rescuers worked to put out a heavily smouldering fire at the site, where a residential apartment block had collapsed like a pancake.

Tyre, an ancient coastal city which boasts a Unesco World Heritage site, was subjected to heavy Israeli strikes last week, leaving swathes of the centre in ruins.

Israel last month escalated air strikes on Hezbollah strongholds and sent ground forces into Lebanon, following a year of cross-border exchanges of fire with the Iran-backed group over the Gaza war.