"A short while ago... troops spotted a suspect who crossed the Blue Line from Lebanon into Israeli territory," it said in a statement, referring to the UN-demarcated border line.

"The suspect was injured from (army) fire and is being evacuated to a hospital for medical treatment in Israel," it said, adding that "the incident is being looked into".

A statement from the Lebanese military identified the individual as Mohamad Noureddine Abdel al-Azim, a cattle herder and Syrian national.

It said it was following up on the shooting in coordination with the UNIFIL UN peacekeepers who patrol the "blue line", which was drawn up after Israel's withdrew from southern Lebanon in 2000.

Israel and Lebanon are technically at war, with the Jewish state having fought a full-fledged war against Hezbollah, Lebanon's Iran-back Shiite militia, in 2006.