With “numerous forces”
Israel launches “offensive action” against Hezbollah
April 24, 2024, 5:59 p.m
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The Israeli army is attacking Hezbollah in southern Lebanon with fighter jets and artillery. “Numerous forces” are being deployed, says Defense Minister Gallant. Half of the local leadership is now dead.
According to Defense Minister Joav Gallant, the Israeli army is currently carrying out an “offensive operation” with “numerous forces” against the Islamist Hezbollah militia in the south of Lebanon. Gallant also said in a video message that half of the local Hezbollah leadership in the region had now been killed. However, it was initially unclear whether Israeli ground troops had advanced into Lebanese territory.
The remaining half of Hezbollah’s commanders in southern Lebanon hid and left the field to the Israeli army, Defense Minister Gallant said. A separate statement from the Israeli military said the army had fired fighter jets and artillery at 40 Hezbollah targets in the Aita al-Shaab area. The pro-Iranian militia has placed “dozens of facilities and facilities” there to attack Israel.
The Lebanese state news agency NNA reported 13 Israeli attacks in the area around Aita al-Shaab and nearby towns. A few hours earlier, Hezbollah had reported firing dozens of Katyusha rockets at Israel. The militia justified this with the deaths of two civilians who were killed in an Israeli attack.
Since the beginning of the war between Israel and the Islamist Palestinian organization Hamas in the Gaza Strip, there have also been almost daily battles between the Iran-backed Hamas-allied Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Israeli army. Tens of thousands of people have been displaced on both sides of the border.
At least 380 people have been killed in Lebanon since October 7th – most of them Hezbollah fighters, but also 72 civilians. According to Israeli information, eleven soldiers and eight civilians died on the Israeli side of the border.