Lebanon was pulled into the broader Middle East war when Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel on March 2 to avenge the killing of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Israeli-US attacks.

Israel has responded with heavy strikes across Lebanon and ground incursions in the border area, killing more than 1,000 people according to Lebanese authorities.

Hezbollah in a statement said that for four hours on Saturday, its fighters had been engaging in "direct clashes with forces from the Israeli enemy army in the town of Khiam with light and medium weapons" and rockets.

The strategic town, located around 40 kilometres (25 miles) inland, overlooks swathes of southern Lebanon as well as parts of northern Israel, and was the first point into which Israeli forces advanced after the start of the latest war.

In recent days, the Shia Muslim movement has repeatedly said it has targeted Israeli forces and vehicles in Khiam and nearby, or clashed with Israeli soldiers there.

Hezbollah also said its fighters clashed with Israeli forces in the coastal border town of Naqura, home to the headquarters of peacekeepers from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon.

The Iran-backed group said Israeli soldiers "tried to penetrate... towards the Naqura municipality building", adding that its fighters fought them with light and medium weapons.

Israel kept forces in five south Lebanon areas it deemed strategic despite a November 2024 ceasefire that sought to end the previous war with Hezbollah.

One of those positions was in Labbouneh, just around three kilometres from Naqura.

Also on Saturday, Hezbollah said its fighters had targeted Israeli soldiers near the border and in other south Lebanon towns.

Israel's army instead said it struck "a number of Hezbollah headquarters" in Beirut's southern suburbs overnight after issuing an evacuation warning for the area, known as a Hezbollah stronghold.

The strikes came as Shia Muslims in Lebanon began celebrating Eid al-Fitr, a major holiday that follows the holy month of Ramadan.

On Saturday morning, an AFP correspondent in the area's Haret Hreik neighbourhood saw a multi-storey building that had been partly destroyed in one of the strikes.

The Israeli army also said its troops killed several Hezbollah operatives "during a targeted ground operation in southern Lebanon" overnight.