Click to see full-size image. By Al-Manar TV correspondent Ali Shoeib.
On December 16, Hezbollah attacked several gatherings of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) close to the border line with Lebanon.
The group said that its fighters targeted a gathering of Israeli troops in Birkat Risha and fired an anti-tank guided missile at a fortified post in the same military site. It also announced that other gatherings were targeted in the al-Matla site and the area of Haraj Ramim.
Moreover, Hezbollah fighters opened fire at two houses in the settlement of al-Manara which were occupied by Israeli troops.
The fighters targeted another gathering close to the Ramim barracks with a suicide drone. The IDF said that two drones, not just one, infiltrated from southern Lebanon. One was intercepted by the Iron Dome air defense system, while the second hit an area near the settlement of Margaliot. Casualties were reported.
The attacks were carried out “to support the steadfast Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and in support of their brave and honorable resistance,” Hezbollah said.
In addition, the IDF reported that three rockets were fired from southern Lebanon at northern Israel, setting off sirens in Kiryat Shmona and nearby settlements. No casualties were reported and Hezbollah has not yet claimed responsibility for the rocket attack.
The IDF said that it had struck several Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon, including military compounds and a rocket launcher, in response to recent attacks. Lebanese media reported heavy strikes on Mount Blat along the border with Israel. However, no civilians were hurt.
Clashes on the Lebanese-Israeli border first broke out last October when Hezbollah and its allies, including the Palestinian Hamas Movement and Islamic Jihad, began launching attacks against the IDF from southern Lebanon in support of Gaza.
As of December 16, the border clashes have claimed the lives of 148 people, including six IDF soldiers, 102 fighters of Hezbollah, 13 fighters from Hamas and Islamic Jihad, a soldier from the Lebanese Armed Forces and at least 14 Lebanese civilians.
