Israeli strike kills 2 Amal fighters as Hezbollah-Israel clashes abate
The Amal Movement confirmed Saturday that two of its fighters were killed in an Israeli airstrike overnight in the southern border town of Blida.
In a statement, Amal identified the slain members as Ali Khalil Mohammad and Mustafa Abbas Daher, saying there were killed while “performing their national and jihadist duty in defense of Lebanon and the South.”
An Amal fighter was killed and two others were wounded in an Israeli drone strike in the South on November 11.
Amal, which is allied with Hezbollah, has not announced any attack on Israel since the cross-border clashes began between Hezbollah and Israel on October 8. Reports have said that it is playing a “defensive” role.
The clashes between Hezbollah and Israel have meanwhile abated over the past few days amid reports that the ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas are making progress.
On Saturday, media reports said Hezbollah attacked a post in the occupied Shebaa Farms as the Israeli army shelled Rashaya al-Fukhar’s outskirts and the border town of al-Dhayra.
Hezbollah had on Friday announced two attacks on Israeli posts in the Shebaa Farms and another attack on a building in Avivim. According to a Hezbollah statement, the Avivim attack came in response to attacks on “civilian homes” and to an aistrike on a co-op in al-Jibbain.
Nearly four months of cross-border fire have killed more than 210 people in Lebanon, most of them Hezbollah fighters but also including more than 25 civilians. On the Israeli side of the border, nine soldiers and six civilians have been killed, according to Israeli officials.
The fighting has also displaced tens of thousands of residents on both sides of the border and Israel has warned that it is ready to use military force to return its settlers to their homes.
Source: Naharnet
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