At least 23 people have been killed in Israeli air strikes on two houses in central Lebanon where displaced families were reportedly living, the Lebanese health ministry says.

The Israeli military pounded Beirut's southern suburbs with airstrikes on Tuesday, mounting one of its heaviest daytime attacks yet on the Hezbollah-controlled area, and struck the middle of the country where more than 20 people were killed.

Lebanon said a rare Israeli strike in the mountains east of Beirut killed five people Tuesday, after a security official said a house sheltering displaced people was hit.The security official, speaking anonymously due to the sensitivity of the matter,