BEIRUT: Israeli forces battled Hizbollah fighters in southern Lebanon on Sunday after the Jewish state crossed the border with tanks and troops, opening a new front in its bid to stop the guerrilla group firing rockets.

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) reported intense fighting in the morning in the village of Taibe, just south of the town of Marjayoun. The area had been under heavy Israeli shelling on Saturday, a UNIFIL spokesman said.

Hizbollah said its fighters had destroyed an Israeli tank in the afternoon as it tried to advance from Adayseh, a Lebanese village on the border. Israel confirmed an anti-tank missile hit one of its tanks and four soldiers were wounded lightly.