Fierce clashes between Hezbollah and the Israeli army have been going on for two days in the border area of southern Lebanon.
Israel, which is preparing to retaliate against Iran’s attack, has stepped up its attacks on southern Lebanon. It was reported that Israel attacked a town in southern Lebanon with phosphorus bombs. Hezbollah also hit the military headquarters in the village of Arab al-Aramshe, 19 Israeli soldiers were wounded in the attack, 6 of them seriously.
The Israeli army announced that the village of Arab al-Aramshe, located on the Lebanese border in northern Galilee, was attacked by a drone and an anti-tank missile, and that 19 soldiers were wounded as a result of the attack.
Footage on social media showed a kamikaze drone, reportedly sent from Lebanon, targeting an area in Arab al-Aramshe. Hezbollah announced yesterday that it had targeted the Israeli military headquarters. The statement said that the military headquarters was attacked with guided missiles and kamikaze drones and that there were dead and wounded among the Israeli soldiers.
On the other hand, according to the Lebanese official agency NNA, the Israeli army targeted the town of Khiyam, located in the south of Lebanon and on the border line, with heavy artillery shelling and phosphorus bombs. According to another report, Israeli drones targeted a building in the town of Iaat in the city of Baalbek. While it was stated that the building was targeted by 3 missiles in the attack, no information was given about the dead and wounded.
Hezbollah gave information about the losses and attacks in the clashes with Israel over the past two days. The statement said that Israeli soldiers were targeted in the Metula settlement on the border with Israel while trying to tow a military vehicle that had been hit earlier, and that there were dead and wounded among them.
Hezbollah also said that Israel attacked the Malikiye position, also on the border.
Hezbollah said 2 more of its members had been killed in clashes with Israel.
This brings to 278 the number of Hezbollah members killed in clashes with the Israeli army on the border since 8 October.
In addition, 54 Lebanese civilians, 18 members of the Amal movement, 13 members of Hamas, 12 members of Islamic Jihad, 7 Israeli civilians and 11 soldiers were killed in the clashes.
Travel warning from Turkish Foreign Ministry
The Turkish Foreign Ministry has issued a travel warning for some provinces in Lebanon following the intensification of clashes on the border. In its announcement on the issue, the ministry advised Turkish citizens to be cautious and not to travel to Nabatiyeh, South Lebanon, Bekaa and Baalbek-Hermel provinces unless absolutely necessary.
US sanctioned, Mossad executed
Meanwhile, Lebanon’s interior ministry blamed Israel’s Mossad for the death of Lebanese businessman Mohammed Srur, who had previously been placed on a US sanctions list for allegedly transferring money to Hezbollah and Hamas on behalf of Iran.
Lebanese Interior Minister Bessam Mawlawi told the Associated Press (AP) that the Mossad was behind the execution of Srur, a 57-year-old exchange house owner who was found dead after being kidnapped in the Metin district north of Beirut on 10 April: “The way the murder was carried out led us to this conclusion.
Mawlawi said the suspects had rented a three-storey villa in Beirut’s Beit Meri neighbourhood before the incident using fake Lebanese identity cards, adding that security units had analysed footage of the suspects entering and leaving the city to identify them.
Noting that many bullet marks were found on Srur’s body, Mevlevi said that the investigation into the murder was ongoing and would be shared with the public and judicial authorities when it was completed.
The US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced in 2019 that Srur had been placed on the sanctions list for transferring money to Hezbollah and Hamas on behalf of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.
