Hezbollah said its fighters clashed with Israeli commandos who had landed in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley, in a rare direct confrontation between the sides in the eastern region.
The group said Israeli forces arrived in four helicopters that entered from the Syria direction at 10.30pm on Friday and landed troops near the mountainous triangle between the towns of Yahfoufa, Khraibeh and Maraboun.
Hezbollah added that the Israeli military then moved towards the eastern neighbourhood of the town of Nabi Chit in the Bekaa Valley, where its fighters confronted them near a cemetery shortly before midnight.
According to Hezbollah, Israeli aircraft then launched about 40 strikes in the area to provide cover for the withdrawal of the commando unit.
Hezbollah said its artillery fired towards the surrounding area and along the route of the Israeli force’s retreat, adding that residents of nearby villages also provided supporting fire. Israel has not immediately commented on the claim.
At least 16 people were killed in Israeli airstrikes overnight on Nabi Chit, Lebanon's health ministry said on Saturday, one of the deadliest Israeli bombardments since war resumed this week.
The health ministry said the toll could rise further, and that 35 people were wounded.
Among the dead were three Lebanese Army soldiers, a senior military official told The National. It would mark the first Lebanese Army deaths since the conflict erupted again. The Lebanese Army is not involved in the fighting with Israel, but has still regularly come under attack in the last two years.
Rescue teams were continuing to clear rubble and search for survivors after the strikes
“I'm fine but … last night was so crazy,” said a resident of a nearby village, who witnessed the clashes from their home.
Video posted online showed gunfire from the ground towards the air, seemingly at the Israeli aircraft that can be heard above.
The Israeli military had earlier issued forced displacement orders for a number of towns in the Bekaa, including Nabi Chit.
Elsewhere in the region an entire family of six people were killed in Israeli airstrikes on the village of Shmustar in the Bekaa Valley, the state-run National News Agency said.
The family, comprised of the mother, father and four children, had been displaced from the city of Baalbek and were taking refuge in a residential building in Shmustar.The Israeli military bombed the building at dawn in the Dahr Al Sawan neighbourhood and destroyed it.
