At least five dead in Israeli air strike on central Beirut in Lebanon

Hezbollah 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.

In the latest overnight strikes, three explosions were heard in Dahieh, in the city’s southern suburbs – with a fourth closer to the centre.

There were two further air strikes in Dahieh, which came after the IDF warned people living nearby that it was targeting what it said were facilities belonging to Hezbollah in the area of the city known to be its stronghold.

Before the overnight air strikes, Lebanon’s health ministry said 46 people had been killed and 85 wounded in Israeli bombings in the last 24 hours, without differentiating between civilians and combatants.

It also emerged a US permanent resident from the state of Michigan was among those killed in recent Israeli air strikes on Lebanon.

Kamel Ahmad Jawad, 56, was in the country to care for his elderly mother, according to The Detroit News.

His death was confirmed by a White House official, who said: “His death is a tragedy, as are the deaths of many civilians in Lebanon.”

Hezbollah has been weakened after two weeks of Israeli strikes and other attacks that have killed more than 1,200 people across Lebanon and displaced around 1.2 million, according to Lebanese authorities.

Israel has gone on the offensive after almost a year of cross-border hostilities sparked by the war in Gaza, saying it wants to ensure the safe return of residents of border areas displaced by Hezbollah attacks.

Hezbollah is a Shia Islamist political, military and social organisation that wields considerable power in Lebanon. It is designated as a terrorist organisation by Israel, the US, the UK and other countries.