The state-run National News Agency (NNA) said "a series of Israeli strikes" targeted the Nabatiyeh district around 12 kilometres (seven miles) from the border, while local media outlets said the raids hit mountainous areas.

"We heard a loud strike, about 10 consecutive blows," Jamal Sabbagh, a 29-year-old doctor who was giving schoolchildren health checks near the city of Nabatiyeh, told AFP.

"Some of the children were scared and there was panic, the teachers were also frightened," he said.

The raids come a day after an Israeli strike killed a commander from Palestinian militant group Hamas in the southern city of Sidon.

Israel has continued to launch regular strikes in Lebanon despite the November 27 truce which sought to halt more than a year of hostilities with Hezbollah including two months of full-blown war.

Under the deal, Hezbollah was to pull back its fighters north of Lebanon's Litani River, some 30 kilometres (20 miles) from the Israeli border, and dismantle any remaining military infrastructure to its south.

Israel was to withdraw all its forces from Lebanon, but it has kept troops in five areas that it deems "strategic".

Lebanon says it has respected its ceasefire commitments and has called on the international community to pressure Israel to end its attacks and withdraw all its troops.