Lebanese Islamist movement Hezbollah claimed on Saturday that it had shot down a drone and launched a series of attacks on Israeli military positions, while state media reported that Israel “intensified” its strikes the day before, causing deaths of four people. Since the start of the war in the Gaza Strip between Israel and Hamas on October 7, Hezbollah has regularly exchanged fire with the Israeli army in support of its Palestinian ally.
On Saturday afternoon, the pro-Iranian movement announced that its fighters “shot down a Hermes 900 type drone.” Hezbollah had already announced that it had destroyed Israeli Hermes-type drones in recent months, the last similar operation dating back to April. For its part, the Israeli army indicated that a “surface-to-air missile” had shot down one of its drones “operating in Lebanese airspace”, adding that the facts were being examined.
Earlier on Saturday, the pro-Iranian movement, which deplored the death of two fighters killed by Israel on Friday, indicated that it had carried out “an aerial assault using explosive drones (…) targeting the positions of officers and soldiers enemies.” The party added that the attack came “in response” to a drone strike against a motorcycle in Majdal Selm which left two people injured in the morning, the Islamic Health Committee, affiliated with Hezbollah, explained to AFP.
The Israeli army said in a statement that “two Hezbollah terrorists operating in the Majdal Selm region were struck by a plane.” Hezbollah also said it was carrying out other attacks against Israeli military positions on Saturday, “in response to Israeli aggression against southern localities and civilian homes.”
Deaths, injuries and damage
“The enemy (Israel) intensified its attacks last night,” the National News Agency (Ani) assured on Saturday, reporting in particular a “series of drone strikes (…) having caused deaths, injuries and significant damage” in several border areas.
For its part, the Israeli army indicated in a statement on Saturday morning that its planes had struck “important installations” of Hezbollah in different regions of the south the previous evening, notably in Adloun, 30 kilometers from the border. in response to firing into northern Israel.
On Friday evening, a woman was killed on the outskirts of Adloun and several other people injured by an Israeli drone strike against a house which was “completely destroyed”, according to Ani. Nearly eight months of violence have left almost 450 dead in Lebanon, the majority of them combatants and more than 80 civilians, according to an AFP count. On the Israeli side, at least 14 soldiers and 11 civilians were killed in this violence, according to the authorities.