An Australian man and his wife have been killed in the south of Lebanon after their building was hit by an air strike, family members have said.

The man identified as 27-year-old Ibrahim Bazzi travelled from Sydney to the town of Bint Jbeil in Lebanon to visit his wife Shorouk Hammoud, who recently acquired an Australian visa.

The couple were planning on starting their new life in Australia, according to relatives.

Local media in Lebanon is reporting that an Israeli war plane fired a missile at number of homes in Bint Jbeil overnight.

The Israeli military said it had been striking Hezbollah targets based in Lebanon in response to what it says are rockets and missiles being fired into northern Israel by the militant group.

The ABC has not been able to independently verify that the missile which killed Mr Bazzi and his wife was fired by Israel.

Ms Hammoud’s first cousin Mohamed Hammoud, who lives in Sydney, told the ABC Mr Bazzi felt strongly about travelling to Lebanon in person to bring his wife to Australia.

“My family is numb. My family is devastated. My family is in disbelief,” he said.

“We were expecting to meet and greet them here and welcome her to Australia and now that’s not to be…utter disbelief.”

Mr Hammoud said all he had left of his cousin were beautiful memories.

“She used to paint my daughter’s fingernails, she was full of life and happy.”

Mr Bazzi was an electrician and a construction worker from the St George area in Sydney’s south east.

He married Ms Hammoud in Lebanon three years ago and was working to set up their life in Sydney.

His uncle, Mohamed Kahmees, described Mr Bazzi as “a beautiful boy”.

“I’m really in a state of shock still.”

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it was aware of reports an Australian citizen has died in Lebanon and was seeking confirmation.