An Israeli soldier prays after retuning from a mission in Lebanon, near the Israel-Lebanese border yesterday. -Xinhua/Reuters

Israeli army confirmed that 15 Israeli soldiers were killed in clashes with Hezbollah in south Lebanon yesterday.

A total of 15 Israel Defense Forces (IDF) troops were killed in fierce fighting with Lebanese Hezbollah guerillas in south Lebanon, the IDF announced late Wednesday night.

It is the highest casualties in a singe day since the Israel-Hezbollah violence was erupted on July 12 when Hezbollah guerrillas abducted two Israeli soldiers and killed eight others during cross-border attacks.

The IDF troops were engaged in fierce fighting Wednesday with Hezbollah guerillas in the southern Lebanon villages of Ayta al-Shaab and Dibel, Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz quoted the army as saying.

On Wednesday afternoon, Hezbollah fired an anti-tank missile at an IDF tank, killed members of the tank crew, the report said.

In another incident, a missile was fired at a structure in the village of Dbil in the western sector of south Lebanon, destroying part of the building and killing nine soldiers.

According to the Israeli army, the Shiite Hezbollah guerillas were equipped with anti-tank missiles, which have previously caused losses among the IDF troops in the area.

Meanwhile, 10 IDF soldiers were reported injured in the battle who were evacuated to the hospital in Haifa and in Safed for treatment.

The fighting, which has raged in the area since Monday night, continued as the security cabinet met in Jerusalem, approving the expansion of the IDF's ground offensive in south Lebanon, Ha'aretz said.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Israeli security cabinet gave green light to the Israeli army to widen the ground operations in south Lebanon. The Israeli troops are to push to the Litani River, about 20 km from the Israel-Lebanon border, local media reported.

Over 100 Israelis and about 1,000 Lebanese have been killed in the 29-day-old of Israel-Hezbollah conflict.