JERUSALEM/BEIRUT Israeli shelling hit southern Lebanese towns on Wednesday in response to anti-tank rockets fired from Lebanon, as cross-border violence extended into a fourth day.

The Israeli military said it was attacking Lebanon after one of its northern positions was targeted with anti-tank fire on Wednesday.

The attack took place near the Israeli town of Arab al-Aramshe, opposite the Lebanese village of Dhayra, the statement said. It did not immediately provide details on casualties or who might have been responsible.

A Lebanese security source said the powerful armed group Hezbollah fired two precision missiles into Israel, which the group considers its sworn enemy.

Residents of the southern Lebanese town of Rmeish said Israeli shelling was hitting around their town, and a security source told Reuters that Israeli artillery shells were hitting the rocket launch point around Dhayra.

Local Lebanese television station al-Jadeed broadcast images of plumes of white smoke billowing out of a wooded region near some homes and farmland in Dhayra.

Hezbollah and Palestinian faction Hamas both claimed attacks from Lebanon on Tuesday. Lebanon's Hezbollah fired a guided missile at an Israeli tank, posting a video of its destruction, and Hamas said it launched a salvo of rockets into Israel.

(Writing by Dan Williams and Maya Gebeily; Editing by Alison Williams and Andrew Cawthorne)