Hezbollah Says Israel Hasn’t Captured Any Villages in Southern Lebanon

Smoke rises from Odeisseh in southern Lebanon, as seen from northern Israel, 17 October 2024. EPA/ATEF SAFADI
Smoke rises from Odeisseh in southern Lebanon, as seen from northern Israel, 17 October 2024. EPA/ATEF SAFADI
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Hezbollah Says Israel Hasn’t Captured Any Villages in Southern Lebanon

Smoke rises from Odeisseh in southern Lebanon, as seen from northern Israel, 17 October 2024. EPA/ATEF SAFADI
Smoke rises from Odeisseh in southern Lebanon, as seen from northern Israel, 17 October 2024. EPA/ATEF SAFADI

A Hezbollah lawmaker said on Thursday the Israeli military had not so far captured any villages in southern Lebanon.

"They thought that by assassinating our leader and committing crimes against our people they would achieve what they want, and some rushed to reap the results, but the resistance has begun a new phase of resisting the aggression," MP Hassan Fadlallah said.

"The choice of the resistance leadership is to continue fighting with all means to prevent the enemy from achieving its goals and force it to stop its aggression," he added.

Fadlallah also told reporters that Hezbollah's leadership was carefully coordinating with Speaker Nabih Berri in efforts to secure a ceasefire in the fighting with Israeli forces.

Hezbollah said Thursday it has destroyed two Israeli tanks near the Lebanese border with "guided missiles", after close combat with Israeli troops staging incursions in the area.

The group targeted two Merkava tanks in Labbouneh near the coastal border town of al-Naqoura, as attacks escalated after Israel intensified bombing of the country last month. The attacks burned the tanks and caused casualties, Hezbollah said.

Hezbollah later targeted a group of soldiers between Kfarkila and Adaisseh.

The group also targeted Thursday Kfar Vradim and Misgav Am in northern Israel.

The Israeli military said it has killed a local Hezbollah commander in a southern Lebanese town near the border.

The military said Thursday that an airstrike on Bint Jbeil killed Hussein Awada, who it said was in charge of firing projectiles into Israel from areas near the town.

Israel bombed several towns in south Lebanon, including Houla, Zawtar, Arnoun, Aita al-Shaab, Anqoun, al-Rihan, Arab Salim, Kounine, Hanine, Ramia, Kfarkila, Kfarshouba, Shebaa and Siddiqine.

The Israeli army also ordered residents of al-Hawsh, al-Abbasiyeh, Tayr Dibba and Bourj el-Shemali in the Tyre district to evacuate and later struck the area.

In the eastern Bekaa valley, Israel's army raided the towns of Tamnnine, Saraaine and Sefri.

Military spokesman Avichay Adraee had ordered residents of the towns to leave, warning that the area would again be targeted by Israeli forces.



Hezbollah Says Fired Missiles at Base Near South Israel's Ashdod

Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system operates to intercept incoming projectiles, amid hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, in Nahariya, Israel, November 21, 2024. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system operates to intercept incoming projectiles, amid hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, in Nahariya, Israel, November 21, 2024. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
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Hezbollah Says Fired Missiles at Base Near South Israel's Ashdod

Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system operates to intercept incoming projectiles, amid hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, in Nahariya, Israel, November 21, 2024. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system operates to intercept incoming projectiles, amid hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, in Nahariya, Israel, November 21, 2024. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

Hezbollah said its fighters on Thursday fired missiles at a military base near south Israel’s Ashdod, the first time it has targeted so deep inside Israel in more than a year of hostilities.

Hezbollah fighters "targeted... for the first time, the Hatzor air base" east of the southern city, around 150 kilometers from Lebanon’s southern border with Israel, "with a missile salvo," the Iran-backed group said in a statement.

A rocket fired from Lebanon killed a man and wounded two others in northern Israel on Thursday, according to the Magen David Adom rescue service.
The service said paramedics found the body of the man in his 30s near a playground in the town of Nahariya, near the border with Lebanon, after a rocket attack on Thursday.
Israel meanwhile struck targets in southern Lebanon and several buildings south of Beirut, the Lebanese capital.

Israel has launched airstrikes against Lebanon after Hezbollah began firing rockets, drones and missiles into Israel the day after Hamas' attack on Israel last October. A full-blown war erupted in September after nearly a year of lower-level conflict.
More than 3,500 people have been killed in Lebanon, according to the country’s Health Ministry, and over 1 million people have been displaced. It is not known how many of those killed were Hezbollah fighters and how many were civilians.
On the Israeli side, Hezbollah’s aerial attacks have killed more than 70 people and driven some 60,000 from their homes.