Hezbollah claims its fighters are engaged in point-blank clashes with Israeli forces in the southern Lebanese town of Bint Jbeil, famous for a fierce battle between the two sides in 2006, AFP reports.

Bint Jbeil, five kilometres from the border, holds symbolic significance for Hezbollah.

It is where its slain chief, Hassan Nasrallah, delivered a landmark speech in 2000 marking the Israeli withdrawal from south Lebanon after two decades of occupation.

The group’s fighters also successfully fended off Israeli forces there during the 2006 war.