Hezbollah Engages in Violent Clashes with Israeli Army near Border

---

Hezbollah announced late Saturday that it was engaged in violent clashes with Israeli forces along the Lebanese border after earlier confirming that it had forced Israeli soldiers to withdraw from the area, while Israeli aircraft continued bombing the southern suburbs and several other regions.

• The Sole Survivor of Hezbollah’s Leadership: Who Is Abou Ali Reza?

• A $7 Million Bounty on Its Leader: What Is Hezbollah’s Most Dangerous Unit, “The Shadow Unit”?

In a statement, the party said, “Israeli enemy soldiers attempted again to advance towards the vicinity of the municipality of Adaisseh at 1:50 a.m. on Saturday morning. The fighters of the Islamic Resistance reacted to this attempt to advance, and the clashes continue.”

It also announced that it had targeted “a gathering of Israeli enemy soldiers in Khallet Abir in Yaroun” in southern Lebanon “with a barrage of rockets.”

• Hezbollah Faces Two Choices After Nasrallah’s Assassination: Crushing Retaliation or Defeat

• Israel Considers Ceasefire with Hezbollah While Continuing Escalation

In a subsequent statement, the Iran-backed group claimed to have bombarded the Israeli airbase of Ramat David, located southeast of the city of Haifa, with a barrage of rockets while targeting a Merkava tank during its advance near a border town.

It specified that its fighters had attacked “the Ramat David base located about 45 kilometers from the border with Lebanon” with “Fadi 1 rockets,” adding that they had hit “a Merkava tank during its advance” in the vicinity of a border town “with a guided rocket and hit it directly.”

• Gaza Setback and the Success of Israeli Spies: An Analysis of Hezbollah Infiltration

• Can Hezbollah stand up to Israel? Iranian President expresses doubts

On Friday, the party confirmed that it had ambushed an Israeli force near the border, resulting in the deaths and injuries of several of its members before their withdrawal, while the Israeli army confirmed the deaths of 250 Hezbollah members since last Monday.

A few days earlier, Israeli forces acknowledged the deaths of 8 soldiers and injuries to others in an ambush laid by armed Lebanese men near the border while an Israeli force was attempting to advance by land.

• Heaviest escalation between Hezbollah and Israel puts Lebanon on the brink of war

• Israel Urges Lebanese Citizens to Immediately Move Away from Hezbollah Sites

Late Saturday night, Israeli fighter jets carried out a series of violent and intense airstrikes on the southern suburbs of Beirut and the Bekaa region, east of Lebanon. The Lebanese National News Agency reported that “Israeli aircraft carried out 12 strikes on the southern suburbs of Beirut,” specifying that the strikes targeted “the vicinity of Al-Qaim mosque, the Burj Al-Barajneh area, the vicinity of the Martyrs’ complex in Haret Hreik, as well as the areas of Rouais and the Al-Abyad neighborhood and Choueifat.”

In the Bekaa region, the agency reported that one person was killed in an Israeli bombing targeting a house in the plain of the town of Saad Nayel, in eastern Lebanon.

• The “gouged eyes” could have been avoided… Here’s what Hezbollah overlooked

• Hezbollah’s Response to Chokr’s Assassination Eased Tensions

The Israeli army also announced on Saturday that its forces had conducted an airstrike on Hezbollah fighters inside a mosque in southern Lebanon, marking the first attack of this kind since the beginning of the exchange of fire between Israel and Hezbollah last year. In a statement, it said, “During the night, and on the order of Israeli military intelligence, the air force struck Hezbollah terrorists who were active in a command center located inside a mosque near the Salah Ghandour hospital in southern Lebanon.”

It added: “Hezbollah fighters were using the command center to plan and execute attacks against the Israeli army and the state of Israel.”

• What Weapons Will Hezbollah Use in an Open War with Israel?

• Washington Post reveals how Lebanese pay the price for Iranian threats and ongoing Hezbollah-Israel clashes

On Friday night, the Lebanese National News Agency reported that the compound of the Salah Ghandour hospital in Bint Jbeil, in southern Lebanon, “was hit by an Israeli bombing.”

Dr. Mohamed Sleiman, director of the hospital run by the Islamic Health Institute, told AFP that seven medical staff members were injured when the hospital sustained a “direct” Israeli bombing, adding that the facility had been evacuated.

• Hezbollah Bets on Tunnel Warfare in Confrontation with Israel

• Can Israel Deter Hezbollah? Dark Scenarios for a Potential Confrontation

The Hamas movement in Lebanon announced late Saturday the death of a leader of its armed wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, as well as members of his family in an Israeli strike targeting his house in the Beddawi camp, in northern Lebanon. This Israeli strike on the Beddawi camp, a Palestinian refugee camp, is the first to target the northern governorate of Lebanon since the beginning of the clashes between Hezbollah and Israel last October.

Hamas stated in a statement that “the Israeli strike targeted the house of Al-Qassam Brigades commander, Said Ali, resulting in his death as well as that of his wife, Shaimaa Khalil Azam, and his two daughters, Zainab and Fatima.” It added that “the Al-Qassam Brigades, in the face of the ongoing massacres of the occupation, affirm that their next series of responses will be through actions before words, and that they will make the Israeli leaders pay the price for their criminal decisions against our people.”

• Israel avoids total war in response to Hezbollah

• Hezbollah Focuses on Targeting Israeli Gas Fields

Ali’s death comes days after the Israeli army assassinated Hamas leader Fattah Sharif in an airstrike that targeted his house in the Al-Bas camp, in southern Lebanon.

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) confirmed that its troops remained in place despite a request received from Israel about a week ago to reassign some of its positions ahead of the start of its limited ground operations. It stated in a statement that the Israeli army informed it on September 30 of “its intention to conduct limited ground operations in Lebanon, and requested the transfer of some of our positions,” while confirming that “peacekeeping soldiers remain at all sites.”

• Hezbollah Conceals Its Losses with Promotional Displays of the ‘Hudhud’ Drone

• Know Hezbollah’s “Primitive” Tactics in Confronting Israeli Technology

It added: “We regularly adjust our situation and activities, and we have emergency plans ready to be activated if necessary,” emphasizing that “the safety and security of peacekeeping soldiers are of the utmost importance, and we remind all parties of the importance of respecting this commitment.”

It also reiterated its call to Lebanon and Israel for “a recommitment to Security Council resolution 1701, through actions and not just words, as the only viable solution to restore stability in the region.”

• Violent Clashes Between Hezbollah and Israel Amid Preparations for Total War in Southern Lebanon

• Israel and Hezbollah: Is Confrontation Inevitable?

Lebanese Information Minister Ziad Makari expressed concern on Friday about the transformation of his country into a “second Gaza” in the face of intensified Israeli strikes on its territory during his participation in the 19th Francophonie Summit.

Makari stated: “We still believe there is a slim hope on the diplomatic front, as Lebanon is bombarded every day. Beirut is bombarded every day, every night, 24 hours a day. The Bekaa, Mount Lebanon, the south,” in an interview with AFP.

• Leaks from the Secret Meeting: Iran Refuses to Support Hezbollah and its Iraqi Militias Against Israel

• Assassinated in a Night Raid on Southern Lebanon: Who is the Senior Hezbollah Military Leader Taleb Abdullah?

He emphasized that his country “relies heavily on France, much more than on other countries. We also rely on the French-American initiative that was prepared in New York,” on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, which has received support from several parties such as the European Union, Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, Qatar, the United Kingdom, and others.

Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib confirmed this week in statements to the press that France and Hezbollah had accepted the American-French proposal for a ceasefire for a duration of 21 days. However, the Israeli state proceeded to assassinate Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah in a massive airstrike in the southern suburbs of Beirut.

• Dangerous Escalation: Hezbollah Targets Israeli Fighter Jets for the First Time Since the War Began

• Hezbollah Faces Internal Dissent and Divisions

Makari condemned the “criminal position” of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, explaining that the latter “ordered the assassination (of Hamas political bureau chief) Ismail Haniyeh while he was negotiating a ceasefire. He also assassinated Hassan Nasrallah while he was negotiating a ceasefire. He knew what was going to happen,” adding that this was “unacceptable” from a Lebanese perspective.

He estimated that the assassination of Nasrallah was Israel’s response to the ceasefire initiative. The situation in the country has become untenable, with conflicts escalating in all directions, Israeli bombings affecting all Lebanese regions, without distinction, whether they are Shiite, Sunni, or Druze, especially as these bombings also targeted civilians, injuring children and women, without regard for international laws.

• Forest Fires in Israel: What is Hezbollah’s Involvement and What are the Consequences?

• Is Hezbollah Planning to Return to Syria and Why?

• Secretive: Is Iran Training Hezbollah in Qom, Iran and Why?