The Iran-backed Shiite movement Hezbollah reported clashes Thursday afternoon between its fighters and an Israeli military unit in southern Lebanon, hours after Israeli airstrikes killed three people. The fighting erupted despite a ceasefire agreement signed by the presidents of the United States and Iran, calling for an end to hostilities on “all” fronts across the Middle East.
Starting at 5:30 p.m. local time, “fighters of the Islamic Resistance engaged in clashes (…) against units of the Israeli army that were attempting to advance from the town of Arnoun toward the Kfar Tebnit area,” near Nabatieh, according to a Hezbollah statement.
The movement had already announced that it repelled an overnight Israeli attempt to advance toward the community of Kfar Tebnit — marking the first such statement since the US-Iran agreement was signed.
While “over the past four days the enemy army has been attempting to advance” in the sector, Hezbollah fighters forced it “to retreat and deploy helicopters (…) during the night to evacuate its casualties,” the Shiite movement said.
Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres, noted that UN peacekeepers also reported exchanges of fire on both Wednesday and Thursday.
“143 projectile trajectories were observed,” with “119” of the shots attributed “to the Israeli army and the remainder to Hezbollah,” he said during a briefing for accredited journalists in New York.
The previous day, “364” instances of fire were recorded, with “330” attributed to the Israeli army and “34” to Hezbollah.
Three killed in south Lebanon
Lebanon’s official National News Agency (NNA) reported that three people were killed in Israeli strikes on the southern part of the country.
According to the agency, “an enemy drone targeted a vehicle” in the Kfar Tebnit area, killing two people, while another unmanned aerial vehicle killed a man in the neighboring village of Zebdine.
For its part, the Israeli military announced the death of one of its non-commissioned officers the previous day, killed in “combat” during which seven other soldiers were also wounded, including an officer.
The Israeli military made clear it is continuing operations in southern Lebanon and published a map showing what it describes as a “security zone” extending approximately ten kilometers into Lebanese territory.
It stated that its forces will remain deployed to “eliminate threats and improve the defense of residents of northern Israel.”
An Israeli military officer said the army may take action to “neutralize” identified threats beyond the security zone, and warned civilians in Lebanon not to enter the area.
The community of Kfar Tebnit is included in the map published by the Israeli military, as are the Ali al-Taher hills overlooking the city of Nabatieh, which Israel believes may house key infrastructure belonging to the Iran-backed Shiite movement.
Since the announcement of the US-Iran agreement on Monday, the intensity of hostilities in southern Lebanon has decreased, and Hezbollah has not claimed responsibility for any attacks on Israeli territory.
Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc leader Mohammad Raad said Thursday that the war Israel waged against his movement “has failed,” stressing that Israeli armed forces are being called upon “to begin withdrawing within sixty days.”
According to the text released by Washington and Tehran, the US, Iran, and their respective allies “declare an immediate and permanent cessation of military operations on all fronts, including Lebanon.”
Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war on March 2, when the Shiite movement Hezbollah launched rockets at Israel in retaliation for the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on the first day of the war.
The Israeli military responded with large-scale airstrikes and ground operations, resulting in more than 3,900 deaths according to the Ministry of Health in Beirut, while also launching a ground invasion of southern Lebanon and occupying part of its territory.
On the Israeli side, the official toll stands at 32 dead — 31 soldiers and one military contractor — since March 2.
ANA-MPA
