At least seven Lebanese soldiers were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a port in northern Lebanon on late Sunday night, local media reported.

Earlier reports said that three soldiers were killed and seven others missing in the Israeli raid.

Israeli warplanes struck a fishing port at Abdeh in northern Lebanon and a Lebanese military intelligence base there was hit, said the reports.

The number of casualties might rise further since rescue teams were searching the debris for victims, the reports added. Israel launched waves of airstrikes on late Sunday night, pounding targets across Lebanon.

Israel has started an intense offensive in Lebanon since July 12 when Lebanon's Hizbollah guerillas kidnapped two Israeli soldiers and killed eight in cross-border clashes.