Israeli army intensifies strikes in Lebanon, confronts Hezbollah on the ground

Photo: Abbas Fakih Agence France-Presse Between the walls of collapsed stores, the columns of acrid smoke and the mountains of charred debris, rescuers were still busy Sunday morning, the day after a strike that targeted a market in the city of Nabatiyeh, in southern Lebanon.

Sarah Benhaida – Agence France-Presse and Jay Deshmukh – Agence France-Presse respectively in Beirut and Jerusalem

Published at 9:42 a.m.

• Middle East

Israel stepped up its strikes in Lebanon on Sunday and is waging ground battles against Hezbollah in areas close to the border, with the Israeli prime minister calling on the UN to “immediately shelter” the Blue Jackets who are acting as a buffer between the two countries.

“Mr. [UN] Secretary-General, get the UNIFIL [United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon] forces to safety. You have to do it now, immediately,” said Benjamin Netanyahu, whose country has come under international fire after UNIFIL accused him of firing on its positions in southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah reported for the first time “close combat” in southern Lebanon and said it had repelled two infiltration attempts by Israeli troops.

For its part, the Israeli army spoke of “face-to-face combat” with Hezbollah.

She reported the capture of 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.

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After weakening Hamas in Gaza, Israel moved the front of the war 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.

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

Visit to Baghdad, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned Sunday that his country had “no red lines” when it came to defending its interests, saying Iran was “fully prepared to face a war situation.”

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“Like an earthquake”

In southern Lebanon, an Israeli strike targeted a market in the city of Nabatiyeh on Saturday evening, according to the agency Lebanese official press ANI.

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 noticed, 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 in southern Lebanon, including those of Nabatiyeh, to move north. On Saturday, she called for the evacuation of around twenty others, as well as on Sunday.

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 bombardments since midnight on villages in the south of the country, a traditional Hezbollah stronghold, where an ancient mosque was “completely” destroyed by a strike in Kfar Tebnit.

The Lebanese Red Cross reported that several of its rescuers were injured in a strike on a house in southern 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.

'Repeated' shooting

On Friday, UNIFIL accused Israeli troops of “repeated” and “deliberate” shooting at its positions, sparking an international outcry.

Five peacekeepers have been injured in 48 hours, according to UNIFIL.

“We regret that UNIFIL troops have been injured and we are doing everything in our power to prevent this from happening again. But the simplest and most obvious way to do that is simply to get them out of the danger zone,” the Israeli prime minister said.

Before him, his Defense Minister Yoav Gallant assured his American counterpart Lloyd Austin that Israel would continue to take measures to protect the peacekeepers despite an “operational challenge.”

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 recorded nearly 700,000 displaced people.

Offensive in Jabaliya

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

On Sunday, its army said it had eliminated “dozens” of fighters in Jabaliya and struck “40 targets.” According to Mr. Netanyahu, the army is “dismantling Hamas strongholds” in the area.

Hamas has condemned a “criminal military campaign” in the northern Gaza Strip.

The Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people in Israel, the majority of them 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, the majority of them civilians, in the Israeli offensive in Gaza, according to data from the Hamas government's Health Ministry, deemed reliable by the UN.