"As part of IDF activities in Lebanon, IDF special forces operated overnight in an attempt to locate findings related to the missing navigator Ron Arad. No IDF injuries were reported," the Israeli army said in a statement.

"No findings related to him were located at the search site."

Hezbollah said earlier Saturday it had confronted Israeli troops that infiltrated an east Lebanon town overnight by helicopter, with Lebanese authorities reporting at least 16 killed in Israeli strikes on the area.

Air force navigator Arad has been missing since he was captured after he ejected from his combat jet over Lebanon in 1986 as the aircraft went down.

Arad is presumed dead, though his remains have never been returned.

The Israeli army said in its statement that it "will continue to operate relentlessly, day and night, out of a deep commitment to bringing all of Israel's sons, the fallen and the missing, back home to the State of Israel."

After news of the Israeli operation emerged, Arad's wife Tami thanked the military but said the lives of soldiers should not be put "at risk" in the hunt for traces of her husband, Israeli media reported.

In its statement, Hezbollah said its fighters had "observed the infiltration of four Israeli enemy army helicopters from the Syrian direction".

After landing and disembarking, the advancing troops "were engaged" by a group of Hezbollah fighters as they reached a cemetery in the east Lebanon town of Nabi Sheet, Hezbollah said.

"The clash escalated after the enemy force was exposed," it added, saying the Israeli troops launched intense strikes before evacuating.

A Hezbollah official in the Bekaa region, where Nabi Sheet is located, told AFP that the cemetery the Israelis raided belonged to the Shukr family.

Last month, Lebanese authorities charged four people with kidnapping Ahmad Shukr -- whose brother Hassan is suspected of involvement in the capture of Arad -- on behalf of Israel's Mossad intelligence agency.

An AFP correspondent in the area heard warplanes and intense gunfire throughout the night.

Lebanon's east, where Hezbollah holds sway, was subjected to heavy Israeli strikes on Friday, particularly Nabi Sheet, which was struck at least 13 times, according to Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA).

The Lebanese health ministry said at least 16 people have been killed in strikes in the area, with 35 wounded.

In a separate statement, Hezbollah said it targeted using rockets an "evacuation area" for the Israelis outside Nabi Sheet.

Israel has launched numerous strikes and sent ground troops into Lebanon since the Iran-backed Hezbollah fired missiles at Israel to avenge the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

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