Israeli forces "fierce engagement with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon"

Israeli forces say they are engaged in fierce fighting with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.

Israeli Army Arabic spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Abhihai Adrai said on social media on the 1st local time, warning Lebanese residents not to travel south from the north of the Ritani River.

It also said commandos, paratroopers and armoured brigades had begun targeted specific activities in southern Lebanon.

Israel's top military spokesman, Daniel Hagari, accused Hezbollah of turning a Lebanese village near the Israeli border into a military base and planning an invasion of Israel, saying it was the target of the ground war.

Hagari said limited and intensive airstrikes were being carried out on Lebanon's southern border, stressing that the war was against Hezbollah, not the Lebanese people.