IDF says troops pushed further into Lebanon overnight to establish ‘forward defense’

Overnight, the Israeli military says, it pushed deeper into southern Lebanon as part of its “enhanced forward defense posture” after Hezbollah began attacking Israel a week ago.

Troops of the 7th Armored Brigade, under the 36th Division, raided the Rab al-Thalathine area, west of the Israeli border community of Misgav Am, with the aim of locating and clearing the Lebanese village of Hezbollah infrastructure and operatives, the army says.

Before the ground troops pushed into the area, the IDF says it carried out numerous air and artillery strikes.

“This operation is part of the effort to establish a forward defense that will create an additional security layer for the residents of the north,” the IDF says.

In the past week, the military says it has hit more than 700 targets in Lebanon, including 120 in the past day. More than 30 multi-story buildings in Beirut, used by Hezbollah, have been destroyed in the strikes, it says.

The IDF says it estimates that more than 300 members of Hezbollah and other terror groups have been killed in the strikes.