Israeli military says it is striking Hezbollah targets in Lebanon

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - The Israeli military said it was striking Hezbollah targets in Lebanon on Thursday, shortly before the movement's leader was due to give a speech.

It also said the military chief of staff had approved plans for Israel's north, which borders Lebanon.

The military said Hezbollah had turned southern Lebanon into a combat zone.

"For decades, Hezbollah has weaponized civilian homes, dug tunnels beneath them, and used civilians as human shields," it said.

"The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) is operating to bring security to northern Israel in order to enable the return of residents to their homes, as well as to achieve all of the war goals," it said.

A separate military statement said that the Chief of the General Staff, Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi, had recently completed approval of plans for the northern arena.

The statements were released a few minutes before Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah was due to deliver a speech for the first time since thousands of explosions in booby-trapped radios and pagers hit the Iran-backed Lebanese group.

The attacks on Hezbollah's communications equipment killed 37 people and wounded around 3,000, raising fears that a full-blown war was imminent.

Israel has neither confirmed nor denied being behind the attacks but multiple security sources have said they were carried out by its spy agency Mossad.

(Reporting by Maayan Lubell; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne and Angus MacSwan)