Hezbollah said its fighters had also launched seven rounds of anti-tank rockets against northern Israel on the same day.

The Israeli military confirmed 15 soldiers had been killed in the battle. But Doha-based al-Jazeera TV channel reported 11 Israelis had lost their lives.

The violent fighting occurred in Dibel, southern Lebanon, which caused the highest casualties in a single day since the Israel-Hezbollah violence erupted on July 12, when Hezbollah guerrillas abducted two Israeli soldiers and killed eight others during cross-border attacks.