Israel says forces carrying out 'offensive action' in south Lebanon

Israeli forces conduct offensive action in southern Lebanon, targeting Hezbollah; UNIFIL reports no ground crossing; cross-border tensions escalate.

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," Mr. Gallant said in a statement.

He also claimed 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.

A spokesman for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) told AFP that "we didn't detect any ground crossing today."

The Israeli army said it had struck 40 Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon. "A short while ago, IDF (army) fighter jets and artillery struck approximately 40 Hezbollah terror targets" around Aita al-Shaab in southern Lebanon, including storage facilities and weaponry, it said.

The army said Hezbollah "has established dozens of terror means and infrastructures in the area" to attack Israel.

Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said Israel had carried out more than 13 strikes near Aita al-Shaab and surrounding villages. "Israeli warplanes carried out... more than 13 air strikes targeting the outskirts of the towns of Aita al-Shaab, Ramya, Jabal Balat and Khallet Warda," it said.