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Israel launched on Friday night the on southern Lebanon since the 27 November ceasefire.

Close to 30 airstrikes were reported in less than half an hour across different towns and villages in Lebanon’s south, as the Israeli army claimed it was targeting sites belonging to Hezbollah.

"The air force attacked Hezbollah military positions in southern Lebanon, where the group’s weapons and rocket launchers were spotted," the Israeli army said in a statement.

"The presence of weapons and launchers at these sites poses a threat to Israel and represents a flagrant violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon," the statement added.

No casualties have been reported as the strikes reportedly hit uninhabited areas, according to local media.

Earlier Friday, Lebanon’s National News Agency said Israeli troops had shot and wounded three people in the border village of Kfarkela, left in ruins by Israeli attacks.

Earlier this week, the Israeli army announced that it carried out the biggest assassination of a Hezbollah commander since the ceasefire began, saying its aircraft struck , commander of the naval forces in Hezbollah’s Radwan Force,Ìýin the southern village of Qana.

The US-brokered ceasefire deal between Hezbollah and Israel last year obliges the Iran-backed Shia group to withdraw from the south and Israel to pull all its forces out of Lebanon.

The Lebanese army is stipulated to deploy thousands of its soldiers across the south and maintain calm in the region alongside UN peacekeepers (UNIFIL).

But despite the agreement, Israel has continued to conduct airstrikes across southern Lebanon – the largest being on Friday – and occasionally in the country’s east along the border with Syria, claiming that it is targeting Hezbollah weapon shipments and personnel.

Tel Aviv has vowed to stop Hezbollah from rebuilding itself and has maintained some troops in five strategic border positions in south Lebanon, claiming they would remain there "indefinitely" for security purposes.

Lebanon is calling on mediators the US – Israel’s biggest ally – and France to pressure Israel to end its occupation of these five areas.

Hezbollah, battered by the war with its main weapons supply and money routes cut off but still believed to be in possession of some of its arsenal, has asked the Lebanese government to act to end Israel’s occupation.