"Ten people, including six civilians and two Hezbollah fighters, were killed in Israeli strikes on a building in the Hamra neighbourhood of Homs," the head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdel Rahman, told AFP.

The strikes completely levelled the building in one of the city's most affluent districts, and also hit other targets linked to Iran-backed groups, Abdel Rahman said.

Three students and a woman were among the dead, two of whom have yet to be identified, Abdel Rahman added.

Two Hezbollah fighters were among the dead, a source to the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group confirmed to AFP.

The Syrian defence ministry gave no precise casualty figures. "The Israeli enemy launched air strikes against a number of sites in Homs and its countryside... killing and wounding a number of civilians," it said.

State television aired footage of rescue teams searching the rubble of a collapsed building for survivors.

Israel has launched hundreds of air strikes on Syria, since civil war broke out in 2011. It has stepped up its campaign against Iran-backed forces in its northern neighbour since its war with Hamas in Gaza began on October 7.

Last week, the United States too carried out air strikes on Iran-backed groups in Syria and Iraq, killing 45 people in retaliation for a drone attack that killed three US soldiers in Jordan.

Israel rarely comments on individual strikes in Syria but has said repeatedly that it will not allow Iran to expand its presence.