Lebanon: Israeli army intensifies strikes and confronts Hezbollah on the ground

Israel stepped up its strikes on Sunday in Lebanon, in and beyond Hezbollah strongholds, and is waging ground battles against the pro-Iranian Lebanese movement in areas close to the border, in the south of the country, which is being relentlessly pounded by its army.

Hezbollah reported for the first time “close combat” and indicated that it had repelled two attempts by Israeli troops to infiltrate early Sunday, near the village of Ramia, not far from the border.

For its part, the Israeli army spoke of “targeted and limited operational activity” in southern Lebanon, before reporting “face-to-face combat” with Hezbollah.

It announced that its soldiers had captured a fighter from the Lebanese movement in a tunnel in southern Lebanon, the first such announcement since the launch of its cross-border ground offensive in late September.

After weakening Hamas in Gaza, Israel moved the war front to Lebanon in September, with the aim of pushing Hezbollah away from the border and allowing the return to northern Israel of some 60,000 residents displaced by rocket fire, launched by the Lebanese armed group from October 8, 2023 in support of the Palestinian Islamist movement.

On Sunday again, the Israeli army reported having intercepted five projectiles coming from Lebanon.

The war in Lebanon and that of Gaza, triggered by an unprecedented attack by Hamas on October 7, 2023 on Israeli soil, are accompanied by an escalation between Israel and Iran, with Israeli leaders threatening to retaliate to an Iranian missile attack on October 1 October.

– “Like an earthquake” –

According to the official Lebanese news agency Ani, an Israeli strike targeted a market in Nabatiyeh, a major city in southern Lebanon, on Saturday evening.

Buildings destroyed by a strike on the market in the Lebanese city of Nabatiyeh, October 13, 2024 © AFP – Abbas FAKIH

Between the walls of collapsed shops, the columns of acrid smoke and the mountains of charred debris, rescuers were still busy Sunday morning. A few onlookers noted, horrified, the damage from the strike.

Among them, Tareq Sadaqa, still can't believe his eyes: “It's as if an earthquake had ravaged the market,” he told AFP. “Everything was destroyed, even the little bistro that was the corner where we drank our coffee in the morning.”

The Israeli army had recently called on the inhabitants of 25 localities, including those of Nabatiyeh, to leave for the north. It ordered them on Saturday not to return.

“Nabatiyeh is like our mother, so I'm staying,” insists Mr. Sadaqa.

After the intensification of Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon on September 23, tens of thousands of families fled the region, according to the UN.

According to ANI, Israel has intensified its airstrikes and heavy weapons fire since midnight on villages in the south of the country, a traditional Hezbollah stronghold.

A strike “at around 03:45” (00:45 GMT), “completely” destroyed an old mosque in the center of the village of Kfar Tebnit, it added.

The Lebanese Red Cross reported that several of its rescuers were injured on Sunday in a strike on a house in southern Lebanon where they had been dispatched “in coordination” with the United Nations Interim Force deployed in southern Lebanon (UNIFIL) which acts as a buffer between Israel and Lebanon.

The front opened in October 2023 by Hezbollah against Israel, in support of Hamas, turned into open war on September 23 with the start of intense Israeli bombardments on Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon, notably killing the leader of the movement Hassan Nasrallah.

The Israeli army then launched a ground offensive on September 30 in southern Lebanon, stoking fears of a regional conflagration.

– “Catastrophic” –

In an interview with AFP, UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti warned of “a catastrophic impact for all”.

Israel-Hezbollah fighting in the UN mission's deployment zone © AFP – Nalini LEPETIT-CHELLA, Paz PIZARRO, Jean-Michel CORNU

On Friday, Israel came under fire after UNIFIL accused Israeli troops of “repeatedly” and “deliberately” firing on its positions.

Five peacekeepers were injured in 48 hours, according to UNIFIL.

Israel said it had fired in the direction of a “threat”, before telling Washington on Sunday that it “will continue” to work to avoid harming UNIFIL forces.

Since October 2023, more than 2,100 people have been killed in Lebanon, including more than 1,200 since September 23, according to an AFP count based on official figures. The UN has counted nearly 700,000 displaced people.

– Offensive in Jabalia –

A Palestinian in tears after Israeli bombings in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip, on October 12, 2024 © AFP – Omar AL-QATTAA

In the devastated and besieged Gaza Strip, the Israeli army continued its offensive, mainly pounding the Jabalia region (north), where it accuses Hamas of seeking to rebuild its forces.

On Sunday, its army said it had eliminated “dozens” of fighters in the Jabalia sector and struck “40 targets”.

Palestinians carrying belongings on a cart flee an area north of Gaza City, October 12, 2024, against the backdrop of war between the Islamist movement Hamas and Israel © AFP – Omar AL-QATTAA

The Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli figures and including hostages killed or held captive in Gaza.

At least 42,227 Palestinians have been killed, mostly civilians, in the Israeli offensive in Gaza, according to data from the Hamas government's Health Ministry, deemed reliable by the UN.

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