At least five people have been killed and eight wounded in an Israeli air strike on a building in central Beirut. 

The multi-storey block in Bachoura housed a Hezbollah-affiliated health centre, which Israel's military said was hit in a "precision" attack, BBC reports.

The attack comes after the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said eight soldiers had been killed in combat in southern Lebanon, its first losses since the start of ground operations against the Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah. 

Hezbollah movement said it had destroyed Israeli tanks during the fighting and insisted it had enough men and ammunition to push back the forces. 

Earlier, the IDF announced that more infantry and armoured troops had joined the operation seeking to dismantle what it called “terrorist infrastructure” in Lebanese border villages.

bd-pratidin/GR