Click to see full-size image. By Al-Manar TV correspondent Ali Shoeib.
Hezbollah and the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) continue to trade blows along the Lebanese-Israeli border on the backdrop of the war in the Gaza Strip.
On January 28, Hezbollah said in three separate statements that its fighters shelled gatherings of Israeli troops at the military sites of Birkat Risha and Tal Shaara villages as well as near the Ramim barracks. In another statement, the group announced that it had fired Burkan heavy rockets at gatherings in the Honen barracks.
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 noted its statements.
In addition to the attacks announced by Hezbollah, Hebrew media said that the settlement of Kiryat Shmona was hit by three rockets which were fired from southern Lebanon. Footage posted to social media shows three plumes of smoke from the rockets that apparently landed in open areas. No casualties were reported.
From its side, the IDF announced that its fighter jets carried out strikes on two Hezbollah sites in the southern Lebanon towns of Zibqin and Houla.
Israeli troops also shelled a number of areas in southern Lebanon with artillery to “remove threats,” according to the IDF. Lebanese media didn’t report any casualties.
The clashes on the Lebanese-Israeli border first broke out after the start of the war in Gaza, with Hezbollah and its allies, including Palestinian armed factions, carrying out attacks in support of the Strip.
The United States and France have been making efforts to put an end for the border clashes, which has claimed the lives of 15 Israelis and 200 other people on the Lebanese side. However, Israel made exaggerated and unrealistic demands, including the withdrawal of Hezbollah some 30-40 kilometers from its border. The group rejected this.
This week, the IDF raised the readiness of its troops near the border with Lebanon and launched drills there. This came following reports of an Israeli decision to escalate against Lebanon if it refused to accept a diplomatic agreement before February.
