Lebanon state media says Israel strikes south Beirut

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Lebanese official media said Israeli aircraft again bombed Hezbollah's south Beirut bastion on Monday, later reporting six strikes on the area, which has been repeatedy hit since late last month.

"Enemy warplanes launched successive strikes on the southern suburbs," the National News Agency said, later reporting "six strikes" on neighbourhoods in the area.

Lebanon's government said Monday that more than 400,000 people had fled an Israeli escalation against Lebanese militant group Hizbollah across the border into Syria in less than two weeks.

More than 300,000 of those who escaped from September 23 to Saturday were Syrians returning to their war-torn country, while more than 102,000 were Lebanese, a governmental crisis unit said.

Hizbollah group said on Monday it ordered its fighters not to attack Israeli troops who recently moved behind a UN peacekeeping position near a Lebanese border village.

The statement came a day after UNIFIL had warned Israel's operations near their position at Maroun Al Ras was "extremely dangerous" and compromised their safety, adding it had repeatedly informed Israel of their concerns.

Hizbollah said it reported "unusual movement of Israeli enemy forces behind a UNIFIL position, on the outskirts of the border village of Maroun Al Ras".

It ordered fighters "not to take action... to preserve the lives of the peacekeepers", quoting a field commander in its statement.

The group accused Israel of "trying to use UNIFIL forces as human shields".

Contacted by AFP, UNIFIL did not immediately respond.

On Saturday, UNIFIL said it remained in all positions near the border despite what it said was an Israeli request to "relocate".

Last week, Israel said it would start carrying out limited ground incursions into south Lebanon.

Hizbollah said it has clashed with Israeli troops in the Maroun Al Ras area and confronted attempted infiltrations there several times this week.

Israel has intensified its campaign against Lebanese militant group Hezbollah since September 23, killing more than 1,110 people and forcing hundreds of thousands to flee their homes in a country already mired in economic crisis.

UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 war between Israel and Hizbollah, stipulated that only the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers should be deployed in south Lebanon.