Lebanon's Hezbollah says fired on Israeli positions

BEIRUT (AFP) - Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah group said it shelled Israeli positions in a contested border area on Saturday, as tensions rise over Israel's war with Hezbollah's Palestinian ally Hamas.

Hezbollah and other Palestinian factions in Lebanon have exchanged cross-border fire with Israel since Hamas's surprise October 7 attack on Israel ignited a war that has killed more than 1,300 people in Israel.

Palestinian gunmen also seized an estimated 150 hostages while Israel's massive retaliatory air and artillery strikes have killed more than 2,200 people in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip. Hezbollah "attacked Zionist positions in the occupied Lebanese Shebaa Farms... with guided missiles and mortar shells, hitting them," the Shiite group said in a statement.

An AFP correspondent near Shebaa Farms reported shelling and saw clouds of smoke rising in the area. Israel has traded fire with Hezbollah and allied Palestinian factions in Lebanon on a near-daily basis since Sunday, although the tit-for-tat attacks have remained limited.

Lebanon's army said Saturday that Israel was behind cross-border fire that killed a Reuters journalist and wounded six others near the border the previous day. Earlier on Saturday, Israeli forces said they killed several "terrorists" trying to cross the border from Lebanon.

On Monday, Hezbollah had said Israeli strikes had killed three of its members, while Palestinian fighters claimed a thwarted infiltration bid.