Hezbollah bombs Israeli troops in Maroun al-Ras as Israel deploys third division
Hezbollah said it targeted Israeli troops in a south Lebanon border village on Monday, as the Israeli army said it had deployed another division to participate in operations in Lebanon.
Hezbollah fighters "bombed... a gathering of Israeli forces in the Maroun al-Ras park with a rocket salvo", the group said in a statement, after announcing separately it had targeted several areas of northern Israel and military positions across the border.
The Israeli army said Monday it had deployed another division to participate in operations in Lebanon -- making it the third troop grouping at division strength to be used in the ground fight against Hezbollah.
"The soldiers of the 91st Division began localized and targeted operational activity in southern Lebanon," said a statement from the army.
- Hezbollah vows to keep fighting -
Hezbollah on Monday vowed to keep up the fight against Israeli "aggression", on the anniversary of Hamas's October 7 attack that triggered war in the Gaza Strip.
Hezbollah and the Lebanese have paid a "heavy price" for the group's decision to open a "support front" for Gaza on October 8, but "we are confident... in the ability of our resistance to oppose the Israeli aggression", it said in a statement, calling Israel a "cancerous gland that must be eliminated, no matter how long it takes".
- Two Israeli soldiers killed -
The Israeli army said Monday that two soldiers were killed along the country's northern border with Lebanon, the latest casualties since the military launched ground operations last week.
"Master Sergeant Etay Azulay" and "Command Sergeant Major (res) Aviv Magen... fell during combat on the Lebanese border," the Israeli army said.
- UN peacekeepers at risk -
The Israeli military is now setting up a forward operating base close to a U.N. peacekeeping mission on the border, a U.N. official told The Associated Press. The base puts peacekeepers at risk, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the situation.
The U.N. peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, in a statement said it was concerned about “recent activities” by the Israeli military southeast of the Lebanese border town of Maroun al-Ras.
It did not give any details on what Israel was doing, but said it was close to point 6-52 — where Irish peacekeepers are positioned.
This, meanwhile, comes days after UNIFIL refused the Israeli military’s request to vacate some of its positions ahead of the ground incursion.
“The IDF has been repeatedly informed of this ongoing situation through regular channels,” UNIFIL said in its statement. “This is an extremely dangerous development. It is unacceptable to compromise the safety of U.N. peacekeepers carrying out their Security Council-mandated tasks.
UNIFIL was created to oversee the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon after Israel’s 1978 invasion. The U.N. expanded its mission following the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, allowing peacekeepers to deploy along the Israeli border.
Source: Agence France Presse
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