The Lebanese Southern front was marked by an upsurge in violence on Thursday, at a time when the truce between Israel and Hamas is about to go into effect.
Hezbollah intensified its attacks on Israel, especially as coincided with the funerals of five of its fighters killed the previous day by an Israeli strike on Beit Yahoun in the Nabatieh caza, according to a party statement. The members included Abbas Mohammed Raad, son of the head of the Hezbollah parliamentary bloc, and Mohammad Hassan Ahmad Cherri, nephew of MP Amine Cherri.
However, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, “Five Hezbollah fighters, including Mohammad Raad’s son, were killed by an Israeli strike that targeted their position in the province (Rif) of Damascus, and not in Beit Yahoun, as Hezbollah had announced.” According to the Observatory, the Israeli raid was carried out near the Saydeh Zeinab mausoleum.
Abbas Raad’s funeral took place in his village of Jebaa, caza of Iqlim al-Tuffah, in the presence of MP Hani Kobeissi, representative of the head of Parliament Nabih Berri, MPs Jamil Sayyed, Jihad Samad, Nasser Jaber, Kabalan Kabalan, Ali Osseiran, Kassem Hachem and Ali Hussein Khalil, Hezbollah MPs, caretaker ministers Moustafa Bayram, Ali Hamieh, Youssef Khalil and Mohammad Mortada, Iranian and Iraqi ambassadors Moujtaba Amani and Haidar al-Barrak respectively, MP Bilal Abdallah, Progressive Socialist Party representative leader Taymur Joumblatt, and former minister Youssef Fenianos, representing Marada leader Sleiman Frangieh.
Twenty-two Attacks in Israel
Thursday was the most violent day since the beginning of the clashes between Hezbollah and Israel, with the pro-Iranian party carrying out almost 22 attacks on the Jewish state. The most significant of these was the attack on the Ein Zeitim position near the town of Safad, which was targeted by 48 Katyusha rockets. Fragments of Israeli rockets immediately fell on the perimeter of the villages of Rmeish, Yaroun and Ain Ebel, as a result of the interception of Katyusha rockets by the Iron Dome, according to security sources reported by several media.
However, this information was rejected by the Israeli army’s Arabic-speaking spokesman, Avichay Adraee, who announced on his X (formerly Twitter) account that “the salvo of rockets launched into Israel caused material damage in the villages of Rmeish, Ain Ebel and Yaroun. According to intelligence, more than 20 rockets failed to hit their target and fell in Lebanese territories.”
The pro-Iranian party also announced that it had fired guided missiles at a house in Manara, just after four Israeli soldiers had broken into it. “They were all killed and the house was destroyed,” said Hezbollah.
Hezbollah also launched attacks against infantry units in Dhayra and Jal al-Alam, gatherings of Israeli soldiers in the Ramim forest, on the perimeter of the al-Raheb, Tall Chaar and Tallet al-Khazzan positions, near the Yiftah barracks.
The Sasa kibbutz and Israeli army positions in the al-Marj, Hadb al-Bistan and Birkat Richa perimeters were also targeted by Hezbollah, as well as the Kherbet Amer and Roueissat al-Alam positions in the Shebaa, Ramia, Jal al-Alam, al-Malkiyya, Tell Chaar and Ramim farms.
According to Hezbollah statements, two guided rockets were fired at a house in the Manara kibbutz, where Israeli soldiers were stationed. A Burkan missile also targeted a gathering of soldiers on the perimeter of the Zarit barracks. In addition, a shell was fired at “a Merkava tank that was parked between the trees in position at al-Raheb.” The infantry unit dispatched to the scene was also attacked.
On Thursday, Hezbollah announced the death of two of its fighters.
On the Israeli side, several media outlets reported that, on Thursday morning, alarm sirens sounded in the north of the country three times in the space of 30 minutes, and that damage was reported in Shlomi and Betzit.
One Dead and Four Wounded
In Lebanon, one person was killed and four injured in an Israeli strike on a house in Aita al-Shaab.
The Israeli air force also carried out strikes on the al-Aliq region, near the towns of al-Boustan and Yarin, as well as on the outskirts of Tayr Harfa, Aita al-Shaab, Rmeish, Chihin and Jibbein. It also bombed Tayr Harfa, Chamaa, Majdelzoun and the villages between Naqoura and Alma al-Shaab.
In addition, phosphorus bombs were dropped on Kfar Kila, while shells fell in the forests of Aita al-Shaab, as well as in Mays al-Jabal, causing a fire. Israel also fired 12 shells at the perimeters of Rachaf. In the evening, it fired flares over villages along the Blue Line, while reconnaissance aircraft flew overhead.
The Israeli army also announced that it had attacked Hezbollah infrastructure and missile launchers in Lebanon.
