Tensions remained high on Monday morning on the southern front where a missile hit a car in the area of Khirbet Selm in the Bint Jbeil district, killing senior Hezbollah commander Wissam Tawil.
Tawil, who also went by the nom de guerre Hajj Jawad, is the most senior member of the pro-Iranian group to be killed in an Israeli strike since Hezbollah and Israel began trading fire across the Lebanese-Israeli border on October 8, the day after Hamas carried out the deadliest terror attack in Israel’s history. Hezbollah acknowledged Tawil’s death in a statement.
Ambulances and rescue workers from the Civil Defense and Islamic Scouts were dispatched to the scene.
On Monday afternoon, Hezbollah claimed three attacks in the cross-border fighting with the Hebrew state. Two of these attacks targeted groups of Israeli soldiers in Shtula and Jal al-Alam. The third attack targeted an Israeli position in the Shebaa Farms with “missile weaponry.”
The Israeli army bombarded on Monday afternoon the outskirts of the towns of Naqoura, Marwahin, Bayt Lif, Aita al-Shaab and Hula with phosphorus shells. There was direct counter-artillery shelling on the outskirts of the towns of Dhayra and Alma al-Shaab, coinciding with intensified unusual reconnaissance Israeli flights over villages in the Tyre district and the coastal region. Moreover, an Israeli drone carried out an airstrike between the towns of Odaisseh and Yarine, near the bridge.
Since morning, the Israeli army carried out four raids on Khallet Ward, on the outskirts of Aita al-Shaab, and on the region between Marwahin and Blat. In addition, phosphorus bombs were dropped on Bab Thanya in Khiam and on Odaisseh, while reconnaissance aircraft flew over the western and central sectors, mainly localities adjacent to the Blue Line.
Two bombs targeted a mosque in Odaisseh, causing extensive damage.
Israeli bombardment was so intense that Electricité du Liban (public service electric company) crews were unable to repair damages to the power network in some areas.
In this context, the Israeli army announced that it bombed a military complex on Sunday night, as well as a missile launch pad and Hezbollah infrastructure in the localities of Marwahin and Aita al-Shaab.
Sunday night witnessed violent attacks, with the Israeli army carrying out several raids aimed at the towns of Maroun al-Ras, Aita al-Shaab and the valleys surrounding Kawzah and Bayt Lif in the central sector, as well as the valleys of Ramya, Kawzah, Hula and Debel. Mock raids were also carried out over the town of Tebnin, and phosphorus bombs were dropped on the town of Karkazan. Israeli military aircraft also broke the sound barrier, smashing several home and storefront windows. Throughout the night, flare bombs were dropped over towns and villages in the western and central sectors, reaching the city of Tyre.
