BAALBECK, Lebanon - A member of the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah survived a car bomb attack in eastern Lebanon late on Friday, the movement said in a statement.

The statement said the bomb went off several minutes after Hussein Assaf and a bodyguard parked the car and entered the house of Hizbollah leader Sheikh Mohammad Yazbek in the ancient town of Baalbek, a Hizbollah stronghold.

There were no casualties, the organisation said.

In a statement carried on its television channel Al-Manar, Hezbollah blamed the attack on Israel.

"One of the officials of the Islamic resistance survived an attack which was carried out by the Zionist enemy," it said, vowing to "cut off the hand" of those responsible.

"The Islamic Resistance (Hizbollah's military wing) will bear its responsibility...and do all ... necessary to cut off the hands that target its Mujahedeen (fighters) with evil ... and defend Lebanon and its people," the statement said.

Israeli officials denied any Israeli military involvement in the incident. Hizbollah guerrillas cordoned-off the roads leading to the blast site.

Lebanese police confirmed that there had been no casualties from the attack, but that there had been material damage.

Two Hizbollah officials were killed in similar attacks over the past two years. The group, backed by Syria and Iran, has blamed Israel for the killings despite Israel's denial.

Hizbollah, key in ending Israel's 22-year occupation of south Lebanon in 2000, said last month it had a duty to abduct Israeli soldiers to swap them with Arab prisoners.

That announcement followed a fierce clash between the group and Israeli forces along the tense border in which four guerrillas were killed and 11 Israelis, mostly soldiers, were wounded.

Lebanese security sources had said the operation was a failed attempt by the group to kidnap Israeli soldiers.

In Friday's statement, Hizbollah said the explosion was an implementation of Israeli threats.

"The blast is a translation of the announced and repeated threats by the Zionist enemy's officials," it said.

The Beirut government has been unable to disarm Hizbollah as demanded by a United Nations Security Council resolution in 2004.

Hizbollah says it would not disarm even if Israel withdrew from the occupied Shebaa Farms, an area that United Nations needs Syrian unless Damascus and Beirut amend their border.

Syria, Lebanon and Hizbollah say the farms, on the foothills of the Golan Heights, are Lebanese. (Agencies)

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