Attacks by Lebanon’s Hezbollah group wound 7 Israeli troops, 10 others along border with Israel

Hezbollah’s attack on Sunday in Lebanon injured seven Israeli soldiers and an additional ten individuals, according to announcements from Israel’s military and emergency services.

The confrontation, marking a continuation of the growing tensions between the Iran-supported Hezbollah and the Israeli forces along the border of Lebanon and Israel, raises concerns of a possible new front in the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East.

This latest aggressive act is the most significant involving civilians at the Lebanon-Israel border since a previous Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon on November 5, which resulted in the deaths of a woman and three children.

Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari of the Israeli army condemned the Hezbollah’s targeting of Israeli civilians as a grave matter. While Israel’s primary focus is the conflict in Gaza, Hagari emphasized the high state of readiness in the northern region, asserting Israel’s preparedness for further measures to ensure security.

He indicated the Israeli military’s plans to modify the security situation in the north, emphasizing the need for civilians there to feel secure in their homes.

The Israeli military reported that seven Israeli Defense Force (IDF) soldiers sustained minor injuries from mortar shell attacks in the Manara area of northern Israel. The details regarding the other ten wounded by rocket explosions and shrapnel remain undisclosed, except for the mention of two critical injuries.

Fifteen rocket launches from Lebanon were detected by the Israeli military, with their defense systems intercepting four. The remaining rockets landed in unpopulated areas.

Hamas’ military branch claimed responsibility for shellings targeting Haifa and the Israeli border towns of Na’ura and Shlomi from southern Lebanon, though no additional information was provided.

Hezbollah initiated the violence by firing anti-tank missiles into an Israeli community across the border, seriously injuring utility workers, according to Israeli authorities. The Israeli military responded with artillery fire targeting the launch sites. The Israel Electric Corp. stated that the utility workers in Dovev were injured while repairing lines damaged in a previous attack, with media reports indicating six injured, including one critical case.

Israeli forces retaliated by striking several towns in southern Lebanon, including Yaroun, Mays el-Jabal, and Alma al-Shaab.

On Sunday night, the Israeli military released a video showing airstrikes on what they claimed were Hezbollah militant facilities, including an arms and military infrastructure warehouse. Hezbollah stated it targeted an Israeli military force near Dovev, aiming to disrupt the installation of transmission poles and surveillance equipment. They also claimed responsibility for hitting an Israeli military bulldozer in a separate attack. Following these events, air raid sirens sounded in northern Israel, and reports emerged of another anti-tank missile launch from Lebanon.

Hezbollah later declared attacks on Israeli military sites in the border regions of Birket Riche and Zareit, as clashes continue to escalate.

The Israel-Hamas conflict, which began five weeks ago with a Hamas incursion into southern Israel, has seen continued clashes along the border, with Israel engaged in a ground offensive in Gaza against Hamas.

Additionally, UNIFIL, the United Nations peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon, reported a peacekeeper wounded by gunfire near al-Qawza overnight. The source of the gunfire and whether it was directed at the peacekeepers or was a result of crossfire remains uncertain. UNIFIL is currently investigating the incident.

Reporters Kareem Chehayeb and Abby Sewell from Beirut, along with Julia Frankel and Josef Federman from Jerusalem, contributed to this report for Big Big News.

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• UNIFIL Reports on Lebanon-Israel Border Situation