Israeli Military Says it Has Killed 250 Hezbollah Fighters in Ground Operation

Smoke and destruction at the site of the airstrike that targeted Hashem Safieddine late Thursday night (AFP)
Smoke and destruction at the site of the airstrike that targeted Hashem Safieddine late Thursday night (AFP)
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Israeli Military Says it Has Killed 250 Hezbollah Fighters in Ground Operation

Smoke and destruction at the site of the airstrike that targeted Hashem Safieddine late Thursday night (AFP)
Smoke and destruction at the site of the airstrike that targeted Hashem Safieddine late Thursday night (AFP)

The Israeli military estimates it has killed around 250 Hezbollah fighters, including a number of battalion and company commanders, since the start of its ground operation in Lebanon earlier this week, a military spokesperson said on Friday, Reuters reported.

Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani said the military was still assessing the damage caused by airstrikes in southern Beirut on Thursday night, which he said targeted Hezbollah's intelligence headquarters.

Hezbollah has not publicly provided any death toll.

The southern suburb of Dahiye came under renewed strikes near midnight on Thursday after Israel ordered people to leave their homes in some areas, residents and security sources said.

The air raids targeted Hezbollah official Hashem Safieddine, rumored successor to its assassinated leader Hassan Nasrallah, in an underground bunker, Axios reporter Barak Ravid said on X, citing three Israeli officials.

Safieddine's fate was not clear, he said.



Israeli Troops Wound a Protester in Newly Captured Syrian Territory

An Israeli soldier mans a machine gun atop a military vehicle as they leave the buffer zone on the border between Israel and Syria, near the Druze village of Majdal Shams, in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, 20 December 2024. EPA/ATEF SAFADI
An Israeli soldier mans a machine gun atop a military vehicle as they leave the buffer zone on the border between Israel and Syria, near the Druze village of Majdal Shams, in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, 20 December 2024. EPA/ATEF SAFADI
TT

Israeli Troops Wound a Protester in Newly Captured Syrian Territory

An Israeli soldier mans a machine gun atop a military vehicle as they leave the buffer zone on the border between Israel and Syria, near the Druze village of Majdal Shams, in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, 20 December 2024. EPA/ATEF SAFADI
An Israeli soldier mans a machine gun atop a military vehicle as they leave the buffer zone on the border between Israel and Syria, near the Druze village of Majdal Shams, in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, 20 December 2024. EPA/ATEF SAFADI

The Israeli military said its soldiers shot and wounded a protester Friday in the Syrian village of Maariyah.
Since the fall of Bashar Assad’s government in Syria, Israel’s military has occupied several locations in the country along the border with Israel.
During a protest Friday by dozens of Syrians against the Israeli presence in Maariyah, soldiers shot at one man who the military said had approached their position, wounding him in the leg, The Associated Press said.
It said the troops acted “in accordance with standard operating procedures.”
The military said that the Israeli army “is not interfering in events taking place in Syria”.Residents in the area previously told The Associated Press that Israeli forces were preventing farmers from reaching their fields.
Israeli leaders say they will remain in the area indefinitely.