Click to see full-size image. By Al-Manar TV reporter Ali Shoeib.
Hezbollah carried out on November 2 its first drone attack against the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) since the start of the clashes in southern Lebanon.
In a statement, the group said that it had targeted an IDF battalion headquarters at the Zabdin barracks in the Israeli-occupied Shebaa Farms with two drones armed with “large quantities of explosives”, adding that the target was hit with “high accuracy.”
The group revealed in a later statement that the drone attack coincided with a series of strikes that targeted 19 sites and points of the IDF across the separation line. The positions were targeted with anti-tank guided missiles (ATGM), artillery and other heavy weapons at the exact same time.
Hezbollah announced earlier in the day that its fighters destroyed an intelligence gathering system at al-Abad site with “suitable weapons”.
The group also acknowledged in a statement that another one of its fighters was killed in action, without clarifying when or how.
Separately, a salvo of rockets targeted the northern Israeli city of the northern city of Kiryat Shmona. The Palestinian Hamas Movement claimed responsibility for the attack and said that 12 rockets were fired by its fighters from southern Lebanon.
At least one of the rockets landed in a shopping area, heavily damaging cars and a store. Israel’s Magen David Adom ambulance service said that its medics were treating two people who were wounded in the attack.
The IDF said that it was carrying out strikes against “a series of Hezbollah sites” in response to the rocket attack on Kiryat Shmona.
Lebanese media reported that the airstrikes hit the outskirts of al-Labouneh, Tairharfa, Shihin and Aitaroun towns, the heights of Mari and Halta as well as an area to the south of the Khiam detention center and the al-Nahhas hilltop. A series of artillery strikes were also reported.
Before the rocket attack, the IDF announced a strike against a cell preparing to fire an ATGM and two other launch positions in southern Lebanon.
The last wave by Hezbollah and its allies represented a serieuse escalation. The attacks came after the IDF said that Iranian-backed force originally deployed in Syria had been transferred to south Lebanon.
“After a series of failures suffered by Hezbollah against Israel in recent weeks, the Iranian Imam Hussein Brigade, led by a commander known as Zulfiqar, has arrived in southern Lebanon,” IDF Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee said on his account on X, formerly Twitter.
“The militia has engaged in confrontation with the IDF in recent weeks along the Lebanese border,” he continued.
Adraee added that “Hezbollah and the Imam Hussein Brigade will cause Lebanon to pay a heavy price for the benefit of Hamas-ISIS. The IDF is fully prepared to respond to anyone who tries to undermine its sovereignty in the north.”
The Imam Hussein Brigade is reportedly a multinational force mainly made up of Iraqis. The group is said to be armed with missiles and drones. It has reportedly conducted direct offensive operations against Israel and American soldiers in Syria in the past.
As of November 2, the clashes on the Lebanon front have claimed the lives of eight Israelis -six soldiers and two civilians- 46 fighters of Hezbollah, two fighters from the Lebanese Resistance Brigades, seven Palestinian fighters -three from the Hamas Movement and four from the Islamic Jihad- and seven Lebanese civilians -two shepherds, a teenager, two elderly men and two journalists-.
More escalation on the front is expected tomorrow. Hezbollah’s Secretary-General, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, is set to give what was described as a very important speech. Some Observers speculate that he will announce an escalation in attacks against Israel in support of Gaza during the speech, or even declare an all out war.
