The Israeli military said it attacked the headquarters of the Hezbollah militia in a Beirut suburb on Friday.
Lebanese authorities reported at least two people were killed and 76 injured.
Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari called the strike a targeted attack and said the headquarters was located under a residential building.
The attack hit the densely populated Beirut suburb of Haret Hreik, near the international airport. Witnesses described extensive damage in the area, with blocked roads preventing ambulances from reaching those in need.
Thick clouds of smoke could be seen over Beirut as huge explosions rocked the city, a dpa reporter said. Lebanese media reported about 10 separate strikes.
Israeli media reported that Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah was the target of the attack, but that has not been confirmed by the government or military. His whereabouts were unknown.
Cross-border fighting continues
Elsewhere, 25 people were killed in Israeli attacks in Lebanon on Friday, according to the Lebanese authorities.
At a news conference in the Lebanese capital Beirut, Health Minister Firass Abiad said there were many more injured, without giving an exact number.
Abiad emphasized that all sides were interested in a diplomatic solution, but "only one party wants to continue its indiscriminate attacks on civilians."
The state news agency NNA had previously reported that a family of nine was killed in an attack on the town of Shebaa near the border with Israel. Women and children were also among the victims, it said.
According to the authorities, over 750 people have died since Israel's renewed heavy attacks on Lebanon.
Hezbollah, Houthis attack Israel
Hezbollah militants in Lebanon fired rockets at the Israeli city of Tiberias and other towns on the Sea of Galilee, causing one injury, the Israeli military reported.
According to the army, most of the 10 missiles were intercepted. The Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia confirmed the attack, during which a man was struck by falling debris.
Four drones approaching from Lebanon were also claimed to have been shot down near the border town of Rosh HaNikra on the Mediterranean Sea.
The port city of Haifa had previously been attacked with missiles, drawing retaliatory Israeli airstrikes on the launch sites and dozens of other Hezbollah targets, officials said.
Hezbollah asserted that they had attacked the Haifa region with Fadi-1 type rockets.
They have been bombarding Israel almost daily since the beginning of the Gaza war nearly a year ago.
The militia claims that it aims to support the Palestinian militant organization Hamas in the Gaza Strip in its fight against Israel and to achieve a ceasefire in the Gaza war.
Israel used to respond with similar force, but since the beginning of the week, the air force has been conducting massive airstrikes in Lebanon, resulting in hundreds of deaths. International efforts to establish a ceasefire have so far been unsuccessful.
Thousands displaced in Lebanon
Since the beginning of the heavy Israeli attacks in Lebanon, "significantly more" than 30,000 people have already fled to neighbouring Syria, according to UN reports.
About 80% are said to be Syrian citizens, the rest predominantly Lebanese, said Gonzalo Vargas Llosa, representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Syria.
He spoke on Friday from the Lebanese-Syrian border over videolink with reporters in Geneva.
That number had more than doubled from Thursday's official estimate of 13,500 people who had sought safety in Syria out of desperation.
"Both Syrians and Lebanese are crossing from a country at war to one that has faced crisis and conflict for 13 years - we cannot imagine what an incredibly difficult choice that is - over 30 000 have made that choice," he said.
In Lebanon, 110,000 people had already been displaced prior to the recent escalation, according to UN reports. Since last week, 118,000 more have joined them, said Imran Riza, the humanitarian UN coordinator in the Lebanese capital Beirut.
Netanyahu vows to press on
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a forceful address to the United Nations on Friday in which he vowed to keep fighting the Lebanese militia Hezbollah "until all our objectives are met," rebuffing calls for a ceasefire.
He also blasted the UN as a "house of darkness" that reflexively takes an anti-Israel stance and a "swamp of anti-Semitic bile."
Shortly after the attack on the Hezbollah headquarters in Beirut, Netanyahu announced that he would short his US visit to head back to Israel.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock continued to campaign for de-escalation in the Middle East.
"We must avoid Lebanon becoming the next Gaza,” Baerbock said on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. “This cannot be in Israel's interest either, especially not in terms of security,” she added.
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