Hezbollah said it targeted Israeli troops in two south Lebanon border villages, as the Israeli army said it had deployed another division to participate in operations in Lebanon, AFP reports.

Hezbollah fighters “bombed… a gathering of Israeli forces” in Maroun al-Ras with “a rocket salvo”, the Iran-backed group said in a statement.

The Lebanese Shiite Muslim movement has reported several clashes in the Maroun al-Ras area over the past several days since Israel said it had begun “targeted” ground raids in southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah later said its fighters “bombed… a gathering of Israeli enemy forces” in the nearby village of Blida “with a barrage of rockets and artillery shells”.

It also claimed a series of attacks on northern Israel, including near the city of Haifa “with a large rocket salvo”, and on Israeli military positions.

Lebanon’s official National News Agency said Israel launched “a series of strikes targeting more than 30 towns and villages in the Tyre district”, near the Mediterranean cost, after earlier saying strikes hit other south Lebanon locations.