Israel says it killed several Hezbollah fighters in south Lebanon
The Israeli military said on Saturday that it killed several Hezbollah fighters in south Lebanon and that an Israeli soldier was injured there despite a ceasefire. The military said it identified several Hezbollah fighters overnight inside what Israel has labelled a “security zone” in southern Lebanon which its forces occupy. “Following the identification, the soldiers struck the terrorists and…
On Saturday, the Israeli military claimed to have killed multiple Hezbollah fighters in the south of Lebanon. Despite the ongoing ceasefire, Israeli forces reported that an Israeli soldier sustained a moderate injury during the operation and was subsequently evacuated to a hospital.
According to the military, the soldiers targeted several Hezbollah fighters within a designated "security zone" in southern Lebanon, which Israel currently occupies. The statement from the military emphasized that the operation aimed to neutralize the threat posed by the Hezbollah terrorist organization.
Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed militant group, has not issued any claims of attacks since June 20. When contacted by journalists from Agence France-Presse in Beirut, the group declined to comment on the incident.
The Iranian-backed group has not launched any attacks since June 20. A US-sponsored framework agreement, signed by Lebanon and Israel in late June, aimed to bring an end to the hostilities. However, Lebanon's army has refused to disarm Hezbollah and Israel's military has not withdrawn from the "pilot zones" in Lebanon, where Lebanese forces are expected to take over.
Hezbollah has consistently rejected the agreement and refuses to disarm, while there is no set timeline for Israel's complete withdrawal from Lebanon. The deal came more than three months after Hezbollah's involvement in the wider Middle East conflict, which began with rocket fire at Israel on March 2 in support of Tehran. This prompted major Israeli air strikes and a subsequent ground invasion.
Although violence has decreased since the signing of the framework agreement, intermittent Israeli strikes and artillery shelling on the south of Lebanon persist. Lebanon's army recently criticized the ongoing Israeli military activities, stating that they hinder their full deployment under the framework deal.
Since the onset of the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in early March, Israel's military has reported the loss of 38 soldiers and one civilian contractor.
Written by urgent.news from South China Morning Post's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
