IDF hits Hezbollah cell and sites as Lebanon border skirmishes persist
Terror group releases clip of Wednesday strike on Mount Meron air traffic control base
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
Israeli aircraft killed at least two Hezbollah operatives in an airstrike in southern Lebanon early Thursday, and the terror group continued attacks on northern Israel throughout the day.
The Israel Defense Forces said in the morning it had targeted Hezbollah sites and operatives in southern Lebanon overnight. In Khiam, the IDF said fighter jets hit two buildings used by Hezbollah and other infrastructure, and in Kafr Kila, an airstrike killed two operatives.
Hezbollah later announced the deaths of two members killed “on the road to Jerusalem,” its term for operatives slain in Israeli strikes.
They were named as Ali Hamada, from Doueir, and Muhammad Shami, from Kafr Kila.
Later Thursday, the IDF said it had carried out another strike in the town of Blida, where troops of the Golani Brigade identified several Hezbollah operatives entering a building.
It was not immediately clear how many were killed in that strike, though Hezbollah on Thursday announced the death of another member — Hussein Ali — killed by Israeli fire, bringing the group’s toll amid the war to 281.
Sirens sounded in northern Israel throughout Thursday, warning of rocket attacks and possible drone infiltrations, some of which were later deemed to be false alarms.
The IDF said several rockets crossed the border during the day, though no injuries or major damage were reported. The terror group claimed responsibility for at least 11 separate attacks.
Also Thursday, Hezbollah released a video showing footage of a missile strike a day earlier targeting the Israeli military’s sensitive Mount Meron air traffic control base.
The video showed a guided missile striking a radar system atop the mountain in northern Israel.
Hezbollah targeted the Mount Meron air traffic control base in an anti-tank guided missile attack yesterday. A video published by the terror group shows a missile striking a radar system atop the mountain in northern Israel. The IDF said there were no injuries in the attack. pic.twitter.com/Vg7zvmnxiO
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) April 18, 2024
The IDF said there were no injuries in the attack.
Since October 8, Hezbollah has attacked Israeli communities and military posts along the border on a daily basis with rockets, drones, anti-tank missiles and other means, saying it is doing so to support Gaza amid the war there. The group is an Iranian proxy in Lebanon, and Palestinian terror groups Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad are backed by Iran.
The latest significant attack was on Wednesday, when 14 soldiers and four civilians were wounded as an explosive drone fired from Lebanon struck a community center in the northern border town of Arab al-Aramshe, medics and the military said.
Israel has threatened to go to war to force Hezbollah away from the border if it does not retreat and continues to threaten northern communities, from where some 70,000 people were evacuated to avoid the fighting.
So far, the skirmishes on the border have resulted in eight civilian deaths on the Israeli side, as well as the deaths of 10 IDF soldiers and reservists. There have also been several attacks from Syria, without any injuries.
Hezbollah has named 281 members who have been killed by Israel during the ongoing skirmishes, mostly in Lebanon, but some also in Syria. In Lebanon, another 54 operatives from other terror groups, a Lebanese soldier, and at least 60 civilians have been killed.
