Israel Says Forces Carrying Out "Offensive Action" Across Southern Lebanon

Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said Israel had carried out more than 13 strikes near Aita al-Shaab and surrounding villages.

Israeli forces are carrying out "offensive action" across southern Lebanon, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said Wednesday without specifying whether ground troops had crossed the border.

"Many forces are deployed on the border and IDF (army) forces are carrying out offensive action currently throughout southern Lebanon," Gallant said in a statement, also claiming that "half of Hezbollah's commanders in southern Lebanon have been eliminated" in months of violence.

"The other half are in hiding and abandoning the field to IDF operations," he added without giving a specific number.