Hezbollah militants, on Wednesday, launched artillery shells and rockets at Israeli soldiers near the Lebanese border village of Labbouneh, according to a statement from the group.
This attack followed Israel’s announcement the previous day that it had killed two successors to Hezbollah’s former leader. Hezbollah, which has been conducting rocket attacks against Israel for the past year alongside the ongoing Gaza conflict and is now engaging in ground clashes, claimed it had forced the Israeli troops to retreat.
According to the Israeli military, three of its soldiers sustained grievous injuries during combat in southern Lebanon on Tuesday and Wednesday. On Wednesday morning, sirens blared in northern Israel, and Israel resumed its bombardment of the southern suburbs of Beirut overnight.
Recently, the conflict in Lebanon has escalated sharply. Israel has carried out a series of targeted assassinations against high-ranking Hezbollah leaders and launched ground operations in southern Lebanon, which have since broadened in scope.
In the latest conflict, over 2,100 people have been killed in Lebanon, most within the past two weeks, and approximately 1.2 million have been displaced nationwide. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Tuesday that Israeli airstrikes had killed two potential successors to Hezbollah’s former leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli air raid on Beirut’s southern suburbs on September 27. While Netanyahu did not specify their names, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant mentioned that Hashem Safieddine, Nasrallah’s likely successor, was probably among those eliminated. The identity of the second individual referred to by Netanyahu remains unclear.
In a recent statement, Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari confirmed that Israel had targeted Hezbollah’s intelligence headquarters, knowing that Safieddine was inside at the time of the airstrike. Hagari added that Safieddine’s status is currently being verified, and an update will be provided once more information is available. Since the strike, there has been no word from Safieddine.
Hezbollah’s deputy leader, Naim Qassem, asserted on Tuesday that despite Israel’s escalating military actions, the group’s capabilities remain intact. Qassem expressed support for Lebanon’s parliamentary speaker’s efforts to negotiate a ceasefire. Notably, he did not reiterate Hezbollah’s usual demand that a ceasefire in Gaza must precede any cessation of their hostilities.
In response, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s office declined to comment on Qassem’s remarks. Meanwhile, U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller remarked in a Washington briefing that Hezbollah’s shift towards seeking a ceasefire indicates that the group is “on the back foot and is getting battered” in the ongoing conflict.
Frances Ibiefo
