At least 15 people have been killed and several others injured after an Israeli strike flattened a multi-story residential building in central Beirut overnight, Lebanese officials said.

An Israeli airstrike killed at least 20 people in central Beirut on Saturday, Lebanon's health ministry said, one of the deadliest strikes on the heart of the capital since Israel began its assault against the Iran-backed Hezbollah group in September.

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.