Exchanges of fire between Hezbollah and Israel continued unabated on Thursday.
At around 7:20 PM on Thursday, Israeli warplanes attacked Aita al-Shaab with two air-to-surface missiles and the border town of Dhayra in the western sector with phosphorus shells.
There were numerous developments on the ground throughout the day, with Israeli aircraft carrying out a salvo of air strikes on Aitaroun, Aita al-Shaab and Ramya. An Israeli drone fired three missiles at Hula in the al-Ma’aqib district. The locality of Khiam was also targeted by the Israeli army with two shells fired by a Merkava tank. The Bayad Blida position was also targeted by a Burkan missile.
Around midday, Israeli warplanes broke the sound barrier over Beirut, in the suburbs and over Metn, causing panic among many citizens.
On Thursday morning, an Israeli drone targeted a house in Hula, killing Hezbollah member Hadi Chreim.
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Citizens injured, including photojournalist Ahmed Ghanem
Photojournalist Ahmed Ghanem and Ali al-Hajj were injured when an Israeli shell targeted the photojournalist’s house on the outskirts of Kfarchouba in the afternoon, damaging it completely.
He was hit in the head by shrapnel, while Hajj suffered burns to his body. Ghanem is also a member of the Kfarchouba town council.
At the same time, a funeral was being held for one of the local residents, while Kfarchouba has been the target of intensive bombardment since Thursday morning.
In Hasbaya, a civilian was wounded by shelling while in her home in Shebaa. She was immediately taken to the Hasbaya government hospital for treatment and then transferred to the Mount Lebanon hospital. Another airstrike completely destroyed a house in Qantara in the Marjayoun district.
One Israeli commander dead
For its part, the Israeli army announced “the death of a deputy company commander in the Northern Front battles, who was killed by the explosion of a rocket fired from Lebanon towards northern Israel.”
The Israeli army announced that a deputy company commander from unit 8679 was found dead when a Hezbollah rocket landed in the Golan Heights area this morning. “The 38-year-old officer was identified as Itai Galia. He had fought in Gaza before being transferred to the north,” added the Israelis.
“During the attack, a number of soldiers were wounded,” added the Israeli army.
For their part, the Israeli media reported “serious injuries among soldiers after a military vehicle was targeted by shellfire from Lebanon, and one of them was reportedly killed.”
The Israeli army also announced that it had bombed Hezbollah military buildings in Qantara, Rab al-Thalathin, Deir Siryan and Tallouseh.
Hezbollah retaliates
For its part, the pro-Iranian formation also announced that in the afternoon it had targeted spy equipment at the Metula site, as well as a building used by Israeli soldiers in the Adamit settlement.
It also announced that it had targeted the Israeli positions of al-Baghdadi, Rweissat al-Alam in the Kfarchouba hills and the al-Marj site.
In the morning, Hezbollah also claimed to have fired 200 missiles targeting 7 Israeli barracks and bases, claiming responsibility as well for an attack on a deployment of Israeli soldiers in the settlement of Kfar Blum, with a salvo of Katyusha rockets. The Kfar Blum strike was “a response to the Israeli bombardment targeting the home of a citizen who was wounded in Shebaa.”
