“Israeli enemy strikes on the city of Tyre killed seven people including two girls, and injured 46 others,” the ministry said, adding that body parts had been found and will be “identified with DNA testing”.

It added that rubble was being cleared following the strikes as part of ongoing efforts to locate missing persons.

The ministry had yesterday reported a toll of three killed and 30 injured in the strikes.

AFP photos showed rescuers carrying bodies on stretchers amid the wreckage in Tyre, as rubble and twisted metal were strewn across the street.

Earlier today, Lebanon’s official National News Agency had said that the deadly strikes targeted three buildings in the coastal city, causing “massive damage to dozens of homes”.

The NNA also said “enemy fighter jets” destroyed two heritage houses in the southern city of Nabatiyeh.

Israel intensified its air campaign on Lebanon in September and later sent in troops after a year of cross-border clashes.

It came after nearly a year of low-intensity, cross-border attacks by Hezbollah in support of its Palestinian ally Hamas following its Oct 7, 2023 attack on Israel that triggered the Gaza war.

More than 3,110 people have been killed in Lebanon since the cross-border exchanges began last year between Israel and Hezbollah, according to the Lebanese health ministry.