Israeli airstrikes killed 10 senior Hezbollah commanders, including the head of the elite Radwan Unit, Ibrahim Aqil, in Lebanon's capital Beirut on Friday.

"Following precise intelligence, the Israeli Air Force fighter jets carried out a targeted strike in the Beirut area, eliminating Ibrahim Aqil, commander of the Radwan unit" along with other "senior figures in the operations network and command chain" of Radwan, the military said in a statement.

One of the security sources in Lebanon said he was killed along with members of the Radwan unit as they held a meeting.

The strike killed nine people and wounded 59 others, Lebanon's health ministry said, in a preliminary toll.

The strike inflicted another blow on Hezbollah after the group suffered unprecedented Israeli attacks earlier this week in which pagers and walkie-talkies used by its members exploded, killing 37 people and wounding thousands.

The civil defense said its rescue teams were searching for people under the rubble of two buildings hit in Friday's strike.

It marks the second time in less than two months that Israel has targeted a leading Hezbollah military commander in Beirut. In July, an Israeli airstrike killed Fuad Shukr, the group's top military commander.

Aqil had a $7 million bounty on his head from the United States over his link to the deadly bombing of Marines in Lebanon in 1983, according to the U.S. State Department website.

The Israeli military reported warning sirens sounded in northern Israel following the Beirut strike. Israeli media reported heavy rocket fire in northern Israel.

Hezbollah said it had fired Katyusha rockets at what it described as the main intelligence headquarters in northern Israel "which is responsible for assassinations."

White House national security spokesman John Kirby said he was not aware of any Israeli notification to the United States before the Beirut strike, adding that Americans were strongly urged not to travel to Lebanon, or to leave if they were already there.

"War is not inevitable up there at the Blue Line, and we're going to continue to do everything we can to try to prevent it," said Kirby, referring to the frontier between Lebanon and Israel.

Reuters witnesses heard jet noise over Beirut around the time of the attack, and a cloud of smoke could be seen rising from the area of the strike.

Footage showed a badly damaged building and a street strewn with rubble and burnt-out cars.

On Thursday night, the Israeli military carried out its most intensive airstrikes in southern Lebanon since the conflict erupted almost a year ago.

The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah is the worst since they fought a war in 2006. Tens of thousands have had to leave homes on both sides of the border.

While the conflict has largely been contained to areas at, or near the frontier, this week's escalation has heightened concerns that it could widen and further intensify.

The Israeli military said Army Chief General Herzi Halevi met the head of the Northern Command and other division commanders on Friday morning.

Israeli newspapers reported that due to the current situation, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had delayed his trip to New York for the United Nations General Assembly next week by a day and would arrive on Wednesday.

The Iranian embassy in Lebanon said it "condemns in the strongest terms the Israeli madness that crossed all lines with targeting residential buildings in Beirut's southern suburbs."