Hezbollah denies Israeli claims of invading southern Lebanon

By Wassim Seif El Din

BEIRUT (AA) — Lebanese group Hezbollah on Tuesday denied Israeli claims about invading southern Lebanon and engaging in direct clashes with its fighters.

“Israeli claims about invading Lebanon are lies,” Hezbollah spokesman Mohammad Afif said in a statement.

“There were no direct clashes between Hezbollah fighters and Israeli occupation forces,” he added.

The Israeli army said early Tuesday that it had launched “limited and targeted” ground operations in southern Lebanon.

"We are ready for direct clashes with the (Israeli) enemy forces that dare or try to enter the Lebanese territories,” Afif said.

Since Sept. 23, Israel has launched massive airstrikes against what it calls Hezbollah targets across Lebanon, killing more than 1,057 people and injuring over 2,950 others, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

Several Hezbollah leaders have been killed in the assault, including its leader Hassan Nasrallah.

Hezbollah and Israel have been engaged in cross-border warfare since the start of Israel's war on Gaza, which has killed nearly 41,600 people, most of them women and children, following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas last October.

The international community has warned that Israeli attacks in Lebanon could escalate the Gaza conflict into a wider regional war.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar