IDF says it raided hospital used by Hezbollah in terror group’s Bint Jbeil stronghold

The Israeli military advanced into the southern Lebanon town of Bint Jbeil, a Hezbollah stronghold, on Sunday, Lebanese media reported, as the army said it raided a hospital in the area where terror operatives had been holed up.

Lebanon’s official news agency reported “fierce clashes” between the Israeli military and Hezbollah in Bint Jbeil. In recent days, the Israel Defense Forces encircled Bint Jbeil as it worked to clear the town of terror operatives and the group’s infrastructure.

Bint Jbeil is considered a symbol of Hezbollah. During the Second Lebanon War in 2006, the IDF battled the terror group in the town but failed to capture it fully. Earlier, in May 2000, after the IDF withdrew from southern Lebanon following an 18-year occupation, then-Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah delivered a victory speech in Bint Jbeil, where he infamously described Israel as “weaker than a spider web.”

“There is still more to do, and we are doing it,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday after a visit to Israeli-controlled territory in southern Lebanon.

“We have thwarted the threat of an invasion from Lebanon thanks to this security zone,” Netanyahu said. “We are pushing back the danger of anti-tank fire and also dealing with rockets, but there is still more work to be done.”

Lebanon’s National News Agency reported Sunday morning that Israeli troops “are still trying to infiltrate and take control of the remaining neighborhoods in the city of Bint Jbeil.”

The NNA added that the IDF shelled the outskirts of the town and its entrances with artillery.

Hezbollah, meanwhile, said on Sunday that it had launched rockets at Israeli soldiers on the outskirts of the town. Last week, the terror group said it had used light arms and RPG fire against Israeli soldiers who were advancing in the town.

The IDF said it raided a hospital in Bint Jbeil where armed Hezbollah operatives had been holed up, killing some 20 gunmen and seizing weapons in the process.

Last week, troops of the Givati Brigade detected Hezbollah military activity at the Bint Jbeil Governmental Hospital.

The IDF said that in recent days, it identified several terror operatives who had been carrying out surveillance from within the hospital, and who then opened fire on Israeli troops.

“Within a short time, the troops eliminated the terrorists. In addition, approximately 20 terrorists were targeted and eliminated in the hospital area to remove an immediate threat,” the IDF said.

The military said the soldiers then raided the medical center, where they located a cache of weapons belonging to Hezbollah.

“The Hezbollah terror organization systematically and continuously used the hospital compound and its immediate surroundings for the military purposes of the terror organization, in severe violation of international law,” the IDF said.

The IDF has previously warned that Hezbollah has been making use of medical facilities and ambulances for military purposes.

“Prior to the operation, the IDF clarified to the relevant authorities in Lebanon that all military activities in hospitals in Lebanon must cease, and published these warnings through various means. Despite this, the Hezbollah terrorist organization continued to use the hospital for military activity,” the military said.

On Thursday, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir toured the outskirts of Bint Jbeil amid the ongoing operation.

Meanwhile, the NNA reported that five people were killed in an Israeli strike on the southern Lebanese town of Qana, and six people were killed in a strike on Maaroub, near Tyre.

The IDF did not immediately issue a comment on those strikes, but said that overnight, the Israeli Air Force struck a primed Hezbollah rocket launcher in southern Lebanon.

According to the IDF, the launcher in the Jouaiya area was ready for an attack on Israel, and was destroyed before Hezbollah could use it.

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Hezbollah continued its attacks on northern Israel on Sunday, with some 20 rockets and at least one drone crossing the border.

According to the IDF, the rockets were either intercepted or struck open areas. There were no reports of injuries in the attacks.

One Hezbollah drone launched from Lebanon was shot down over the Kiryat Shmona area, the military said, after sirens had sounded in the northern city and nearby towns in the Galilee Panhandle.

IDF: Troops killed Hezbollah gunman responsible for killing soldier

Also on Sunday, the IDF said troops killed a Hezbollah gunman responsible for killing Israeli soldier Staff Sgt. Touvel Yosef Lifshiz in southern Lebanon last week.

On Tuesday afternoon, troops of the Golani Brigade’s 13th Battalion exchanged fire with two Hezbollah operatives in a building.

During the gun battle, Lifshiz and one of the Hezbollah gunmen were killed, while the second terror operative managed to hide.

Two days later, the Golani soldiers returned to the site of the battle and identified an armed Hezbollah operative hiding under the rubble inside the building.

“The troops engaged and eliminated the terrorist with close-range fire,” the military said, adding that he was confirmed to have been the second gunman.

In addition, the IDF said, the soldiers located the body of the first operative killed in the initial exchange of fire.

Lebanon’s health ministry says Israeli attacks have killed over 1,800 people since hostilities escalated on March 2, in a toll that does not differentiate between fighters and civilians. According to IDF tallies released Friday, more than 1,400 Hezbollah operatives have been killed over the same period.

Twelve IDF soldiers have been killed in southern Lebanon amid the renewed fighting against Hezbollah, two civilians were killed by Hezbollah rockets, and an Israeli civilian was mistakenly killed in the north by Israeli artillery shelling.