An Israeli air strike on a residential building in southern Lebanon killed seven people and wounded three early on Saturday, Lebanese state media said, in one of the deadliest Israeli attacks since a ceasefire took effect in June.

The strike hit the outskirts of Ansar, in the Nabatieh district, at about 04:30 local time, according to local reporting. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said the building was destroyed and emergency crews searched through the rubble for victims.

L'Orient Today reported that the attack struck two buildings in the Mraiseh neighbourhood, near Qalaat Mais between Ansar and Zrarieh. Local sources told the publication that nine people were pulled from the rubble, seven of them dead.

Ansar's mayor told L'Orient Today that the targeted two-storey building had been housing two displaced families.

The Israeli military had not publicly commented on the Ansar strike at the time of publication, according to the Associated Press.

Israeli forces carried out attacks elsewhere in southern Lebanon during the same period.

Lebanon's National News Agency reported a series of Israeli air strikes and artillery attacks on the Ali al-Taher ridge, a strategic elevated area overlooking Nabatieh. Israeli forces also detonated homes in Bint Jbeil, according to the agency.

L'Orient Today reported that explosive-filled barrels were dropped on the Ali al-Taher hills on Saturday morning. The attacks prompted dozens of families to leave Nabatieh overnight for Sidon, according to the publication.

Israeli forces also carried out demolitions in Haddatha and Zawtar Sharqieh, while machine-gun fire struck the outskirts of Aita al-Jabal. Artillery fire was reported in several other areas of the south.

Lebanese reports also said phosphorus munitions were used around Ali al-Taher. Gazatte could not independently verify that claim, and the Israeli military had not provided an account confirming the use of white phosphorus in Saturday's attacks.

The Ali al-Taher ridge has repeatedly been at the centre of fighting between Israeli forces and Hezbollah. The elevated terrain overlooks Nabatieh and surrounding routes, and Israel has previously said Hezbollah maintains significant military infrastructure in the area.

Saturday's strike in Ansar was among the deadliest since fighting sharply declined following a June ceasefire and a subsequent US-backed framework agreement between Lebanon and Israel.

The framework envisages a gradual Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon linked to the verified disarmament of Hezbollah and the Lebanese military assuming control of areas vacated by Israeli forces.

Its implementation remains disputed.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Thursday that Israeli forces would not withdraw from what Israel calls its “security zone” until Hezbollah had been disarmed and the threat posed by the group had been removed throughout Lebanon.

A US State Department official said a permanent Israeli military presence in southern Lebanon would be inconsistent with commitments made under the agreement. Hezbollah has rejected discussion of surrendering its weapons before Israeli forces withdraw.

Lebanon's Health Ministry figures cited by AFP put the toll from the war that began on 2 March at more than 4,335 people killed and 12,277 wounded. Nearly one million people were displaced during the fighting.

Despite the decline in large-scale hostilities, Israeli attacks and demolitions have continued in southern Lebanon. AFP reported, citing Lebanese figures, that 355 people had been killed and 276 wounded since the 19 June ceasefire announcement.

Rescue operations at the destroyed building in Ansar were continuing on Saturday as Israeli attacks were reported elsewhere around Nabatieh.