Israeli soldier injured in 'close-quarters encounter' with Hezbollah in Lebanon: army

The Israeli military said one of its soldiers was moderately injured during a "close-quarters encounter" with Hezbollah militants in southern Lebanon overnight on Saturday, despite a ceasefire.

"Overnight (Saturday), an IDF officer was moderately injured during operational activity in southern Lebanon," the military said in a statement, specifying to AFP that the soldier was "injured during a close-quarters encounter with terrorists" in the area.

When contacted by AFP journalists in Beirut, Hezbollah did not comment. The militant group has not claimed any attacks since June 20.

A US-sponsored framework agreement signed by Lebanon and Israel in late June aims to end hostilities, with Lebanon's army to disarm Hezbollah and the Israeli military to withdraw from "pilot zones" where Lebanese forces will subsequently deploy.

Hezbollah has repeatedly rejected the deal and refuses to disarm, while there is no timetable for Israel's full withdrawal.

The deal came more than three months after Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the wider Middle East war with rocket fire at Israel in support of Tehran on March 2, triggering major Israeli airstrikes and a ground invasion.

While violence has declined since the signing of a preliminary US-Iran deal in June and the Lebanon-Israel agreement, Lebanon continues to report intermittent Israeli strikes and artillery shelling on the south.

Lebanon's army last week condemned ongoing Israeli military activities that it said were preventing its full deployment under the framework deal.

Since the war between Israel and Hezbollah erupted in early March, Israel's military has lost 38 soldiers and one civilian contractor.