Jerusalem, Oct 14: Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant vowed that Israel will prevent Hezbollah forces from reoccupying the southern Lebanese border area after the operation ends.
According to a statement from his office on Sunday, Gallant toured the Lebanon-Israel border, visited an observation post overlooking southern Lebanon, and held a situational assessment with military commanders.
He stated that Israel regards “the entire first line of (southern Lebanese) villages with Hezbollah infrastructure” as its “military targets.”
According to Gallant, Hezbollah militants have constructed numerous underground tunnels and weapons storage facilities in these villages, reports Xinhua news agency.
“I have instructed the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) at all levels to ensure the destruction of these Hezbollah infrastructures and to make sure that terrorists cannot return to these areas,” Gallant added.
“IDF troops are currently destroying these (Hezbollah) assets both above and beneath the ground,” he said, describing the ongoing raids as “powerful and effective.”
He vowed that “even once IDF troops withdraw, we will not allow Hezbollah terrorists to return to these areas.”
Fighting across the Israel-Lebanon border continued on Sunday, with the Israeli military claiming that it had struck approximately 200 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, including rocket launchers, anti-tank missile positions, and other infrastructure. The military also reported that 28 soldiers were injured in fighting with Hezbollah fighters.
The IDF has called on residents of more than 21 villages in southern Lebanon to evacuate north of the Awali River.
“For your safety, you must leave your homes immediately. Evacuate without delay. Hezbollah elements, facilities, or weapons are in the area, putting your lives at risk,” Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee wrote on social media platform X.
In response, Hezbollah continued attacks on Israeli targets. According to Israeli officials, Hezbollah launched at least 90 rockets at northern Israel by Sunday evening.
The group claimed responsibility for launching a squadron of drones on a training base of the Golani Brigade in Binyamina, northern Israel.
Four Israeli soldiers killed; airstrike kills
20 in Gaza
A Hezbollah drone attack on an army base in central Israel killed four soldiers and severely wounded seven others Sunday, the military said, in the deadliest strike by the militant group since Israel launched its ground invasion of Lebanon nearly two weeks ago.
The Lebanon-based Hezbollah called the attack near Binyamina city retaliation for Israeli strikes on Beirut on Thursday that killed 22 people. It later said it targeted Israel’s elite Golani brigade, launching dozens of missiles to occupy Israeli air defence systems during the assault by “squadrons” of drones.
Israel’s national rescue service said the attack wounded 61. With Israel’s advanced air-defence systems, it’s rare for so many people to be injured by drones or missiles.
Hezbollah and Israel have traded fire almost daily in the year since the war in Gaza began, and fighting has escalated.
Israel launched its ground operation in Lebanon earlier this month with the goal of weakening Hezbollah and pushing the militant group away from the border to allow thousands of displaced Israelis to return to their homes.
Inside Gaza, an Israeli airstrike killed at least 20 people including children at a school Sunday night, according to two local hospitals. The school in Nuseirat was sheltering some of the many Palestinians displaced by the war.
Meanwhile, explosions hit early Monday outside Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, killing three people and injuring about 50 others, the hospital said. Tents caught fire, and residents of the Central Gaza community carried the injured into the hospital. (AP)
