Military Escalation in South Lebanon

Smoke rises following Israeli strikes on Tuesday on the village of Marwahin in southern Lebanon (AFP)
Smoke rises following Israeli strikes on Tuesday on the village of Marwahin in southern Lebanon (AFP)
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Military Escalation in South Lebanon

Smoke rises following Israeli strikes on Tuesday on the village of Marwahin in southern Lebanon (AFP)
Smoke rises following Israeli strikes on Tuesday on the village of Marwahin in southern Lebanon (AFP)

The southern border of Lebanon witnessed on Tuesday a clear military escalation between Hezbollah and Israel, which analysts say could pave the way for an expansion of the war between the two sides.

The Israeli Jerusalem Post newspaper said that a drone exploded in Ramim Ridge in Israel's North, injuring seven.

The injured were all brought to the Galilee Medical Center, which reported that they sustained shrapnel injuries or head injuries, it added.

Meanwhile, The Times of Israel said nine Israeli soldiers were wounded, one seriously, in an anti-tank guided missile attack in northern Israel on Tuesday, while evacuating a civilian who had been injured in an earlier Hezbollah attack on a church.

Hezbollah’s Al-Manar channel said Israeli media described the situation on the border with Lebanon as “difficult” after the party carried out a number of operations that left several casualties.

On Tuesday, Hezbollah did not announce any casualties in its ranks. It said two civilians were wounded in southern Lebanon.

In separate statements, the Lebanese party said it launched an aerial attack on a newly established command headquarters near Kiryat Shmona with a combat drone and inflicting confirmed casualties.

Hezbollah’s fighters also fired missiles at the Zibdin barracks, and targeted the monitoring room near the Shomera barracks with appropriate weapons, achieving direct hits and causing casualties among their personnel.

The fighters targeted the deployment of Israeli soldiers in the vicinity of the Ramya site, achieving direct hits, in addition to a gathering of Israeli soldiers in the vicinity of Doviv Barracks, killing several of them.

A Hezbollah statement also said its fighters killed or injured a gathering of Israeli soldiers at Al-Raheb site.

According to military experts, the escalation at the South Lebanon front could lead to an expansion of the war between the two sides.



Israeli Forces Surround Lebanon’s Khiam Ahead of Storming it

Smoke rises as a result of an Israeli airstrike on the village of al-Khiam in southern Lebanon, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, northern Israel, 22 November 2024, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel. (EPA)
Smoke rises as a result of an Israeli airstrike on the village of al-Khiam in southern Lebanon, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, northern Israel, 22 November 2024, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel. (EPA)
TT

Israeli Forces Surround Lebanon’s Khiam Ahead of Storming it

Smoke rises as a result of an Israeli airstrike on the village of al-Khiam in southern Lebanon, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, northern Israel, 22 November 2024, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel. (EPA)
Smoke rises as a result of an Israeli airstrike on the village of al-Khiam in southern Lebanon, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, northern Israel, 22 November 2024, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel. (EPA)

Israeli forces have blocked supply routes to the southern Lebanese border city of al-Khiam ahead of storming it.

They have also surrounded the strategic city with Hezbollah fighters still inside, launching artillery and air attacks against them.

Hezbollah fighters have been holding out in Khiam for 25 days. The capture of the city would be significant and allow Israeli forces easier passage into southern Lebanon.

Field sources said Israeli forces have already entered some neighborhoods of Khiam from its eastern and southern outskirts, expanding their incursion into its northern and eastern sectors to fully capture the city.

They cast doubt on claims that the city has been fully captured, saying fighting is still taking place deeper inside its streets and alleys, citing the ongoing artillery fire and drone and air raids.

Israel has already cut off Hezbollah’s supply routes by seizing control of Bourj al-Mamlouk, Tall al-Nahas and olive groves in al-Qlaa in the Marayoun region. Its forces have also fanned out to the west towards the Litani River.

The troops have set up a “line of fire” spanning at least seven kms around Khiam to deter anti-tank attacks from Hezbollah and to launch artillery, drone and aerial attacks, said the sources.

The intense pressure has forced Hezbollah to resort to suicide drone attacks against Israeli forces.

Hezbollah’s al-Manar television said Israeli forces tried to carry out a new incursion towards Khiam’s northern neighborhoods.

Lebanon’s National News Agency reported that since Friday night, Israeli forces have been using “all forms of weapons in their attempt to capture Khiam, which Israel views as a strategic gateway through which it can make rapid ground advances.”

It reported an increase in air and artillery attacks in the past two days as the forces try to storm the city.

The troops are trying to advance on Khiam by first surrounding it from all sides under air cover, it continued.

They are also booby-trapping some homes and buildings and then destroying them, similar to what they have done in other southern towns, such as Adeisseh, Yaround, Aitaroun and Mais al-Jabal.

Khiam holds symbolic significance to the Lebanese people because it was the first city liberated following Israel’s implementation of United Nations Security Council 425 on May 25, 2000, that led to its withdrawal from the South in a day that Hezbollah has since declared Liberation Day.