Clashes have erupted as Israeli forces attempted a landing operation in the mountain range along the Lebanon-Syria border, according to Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA). The armed group Hezbollah stated that its fighters were involved in the clashes, marking a significant escalation on this fierce front of the wider regional war launched by the United States and Israeli regimes.
The Lebanese Health Ministry reported that at least 16 people were killed and 35 wounded in Israeli air raids on the town of Nabi Chit in the eastern Bekaa Valley. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military. Hezbollah claimed in a statement that its fighters had observed the infiltration of four Israeli enemy army helicopters from the Syrian direction.
Hezbollah's statement detailed that after landing, advancing Israeli troops were engaged by a group of its fighters near the Nabi Chit cemetery using light and medium weapons, with the clash intensifying after the enemy force was exposed, leading to intense strikes and an evacuation by Israeli forces. A separate statement said Hezbollah fighters fired rockets at the evacuation zone as Israeli forces withdrew.
The Lebanese government allegedly banned military activities by Hezbollah on Monday, but the group's fighters continue to launch missiles at Israel, reportedly putting the government in a difficult position. Al Jazeera's correspondent Zeina Khodr, reporting from the Bekaa Valley, emphasized that Hezbollah's presence on the front lines in border villages, engaging in direct combat with the Israeli army, shows it remains the most powerful force in the area, despite previous claims of Lebanese army control.
In the past week, the Israeli military has threatened a large-scale enforced evacuation order for southern Lebanon, causing a massive exodus of civilians. The Lebanese Health Ministry said on Friday that the death toll from Israeli attacks on Lebanon this week has risen to at least 217 people, with 798 wounded and an estimated 95,000 displaced. Prime Minister Nawaf Salam stated that the humanitarian and political consequences of this displacement may be unprecedented, adding that Lebanon has been drawn into a devastating war it did not seek or choose.
Source: www.aljazeera.com