VANGUARD
Hezbollah reported on Saturday that its fighters were engaged in confrontations with Israeli troops along Lebanon’s southern border. This follows Israeli military strikes targeting militants from the Iran-backed group at a mosque in the area.
Recent days have seen a sharp escalation in violence, with heavy Israeli bombardments on Hezbollah strongholds throughout Lebanon, and ground operations near the border, marking a shift from nearly a year of sporadic cross-border skirmishes to full-scale conflict.
In the northern Tripoli region, Palestinian militant group Hamas stated that an Israeli airstrike on the Beddawi refugee camp resulted in the deaths of commander Saeed Attallah Ali, his wife, and their two daughters.
This escalation includes Iran’s second missile strike on Israel, increased rocket fire from Hezbollah, and attacks by Iranian allies from locations as distant as Yemen, occurring just days before the first anniversary of Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel.
Ibrahim Nazzal, one of many displaced by the violence, expressed despair in downtown Beirut: “We want the war to stop so we can go back to our land. All our homes are gone. I don’t know what we will go back to.”
After nearly a year of conflict in Gaza sparked by Hamas’s unprecedented assault, Israel is now focusing on the north, hoping to enable the return of tens of thousands of Israelis displaced by Hezbollah rockets.
Since September 23, Israel’s military has intensified its strikes on Hezbollah positions across Lebanon, resulting in over 1,110 casualties. Hezbollah reported that its fighters clashed with Israeli forces near the border, claiming they forced Israeli troops to retreat.
The Israeli military stated it has killed 250 Hezbollah fighters this week and targeted a militant command center located inside a mosque in Bint Jbeil.
In the recent wave of attacks on Lebanon, an Iranian general and several Hezbollah commanders were killed, including the group’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, in a significant blow to the organization.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in a rare public speech, asserted that “the resistance in the region will not back down with these martyrdoms,” commending Hezbollah and Hamas for their “fierce defense” against Israeli forces.
As Israel considers its response to the recent Iranian missile strike, U.S. President Joe Biden warned against attacking Iranian oil facilities, although he mentioned discussions were underway regarding such actions.
The Iranian missile strike, which Tehran framed as retaliation for the deaths of Nasrallah and other top figures, resulted in one fatality in the occupied West Bank. Satellite images of Nevatim air base in southern Israel indicated apparent damage to a structure compared to earlier photographs.
Israeli bombardments in Lebanon have rendered at least four hospitals inoperative, while the first U.N.-organized medical aid shipment arrived at Beirut airport on Friday. Residents in south Beirut reported a series of explosions following warnings from the Israeli military for locals to evacuate.
Lebanon’s government indicated that an Israeli strike on Friday severed the main international route to Syria, with Israel claiming the action aimed to disrupt weapon transfers.
According to Lebanon’s disaster management unit, over 374,000 people, mainly Syrian refugees, sought refuge in Syria in the last week of September. The U.N. peacekeeping mission in Lebanon confirmed that its forces “remain in all positions” despite an Israeli request for repositioning amid ground incursions.
The U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon reiterated its call for adherence to Security Council Resolution 1701, which concluded the 2006 conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, mandating that only the Lebanese army and peacekeepers be present in southern Lebanon.
In a visit to Beirut, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi expressed support for a ceasefire that would be acceptable to Hezbollah and coincide with a ceasefire in Gaza. Biden noted that the U.S. was working to “rally the rest of the world and our allies” to prevent the conflict from escalating further.
