UN peacekeepers today asked Israel’s army to pull down a new barbed-wire barrier that Lebanon said encroached on its territory, a UN spokesman said.

Lebanese troops, tanks and armoured vehicles began deploying today to southern Lebanon in line with a UN ceasefire plan to end fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.

Eight thousand Israeli troops pressed the first full day of a massive new ground attack in southern Lebanon today and said they seized five Hezbollah fighters in a dramatic raid on a north-eastern town.

Israel launched its deepest ground strike into Lebanon today, claiming it had killed 10 Hezbollah guerrillas and captured five in the northeastern city of Baalbek, while nearby air strikes killed at least 15 civilians.

A Lebanese boy was killed early today in an explosion near the border with Israel, hours after an Israeli soldier was killed in a cross-border shooting.