Fire exchanges between Israel and Hezbollah escalated in southern Lebanon, causing casualties and increasing the number of displaced people fleeing the unrelenting violence.
Heavy Israeli artillery directly targeted the outskirts of the towns of Naqoura, Yarine, Alma al-Shaab, Dhayra, Bayt Lif, Jabal al-Labounneh, and Al-Alam in the western and middle sectors on Sunday morning.
Warplanes flew over the southern towns until early morning, and flare bombs were dropped above the border villages adjacent to the Blue Line.
Israel also fired a missile that crashed near the cemetery of the town of Blida, where the funerals of two fighters from Amal Movement, killed in earlier violence in South Lebanon, was taking place.
According to the National News Agency, the number of displaced people registered with the Natural Disaster Management Unit of the Union of Tyre Municipalities exceeded 35,000 lately.
It is estimated that an additional 45,000 persons, not registered with the municipalities or any other official administration, sought refuge in safe areas across Lebanon. These are not receiving any humanitarian aid.
For its part, Hezbollah announced on Sunday the killing of two of its fighters, Muhammad Jawdat Yahya and Abbas Ali Moubarak from the town of Al-Taybeh in southern Lebanon.
According to AFP, the spokesman for the Israeli army, Daniel Hagari, claimed on Saturday that Israel had targeted more than 50 Hezbollah-related sites in Syria and 3,400 targets in Lebanon. He noted the killing of 200 “leaders and terrorists” in the strikes on Lebanon since the onset of the Gaza war on October 7.
The Israeli army also reported the death of nine soldiers and six civilians in the clashes on its northern front.
