Click to see full-size image. By Al-Manar TV correspondent Ali Shoeib.
Hezbollah continues to launch attacks against the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), ignoring efforts by the United States to end the clashes on the Lebanese-Israeli border.
On January 18, the group said in four separate statements that its fighters targeted a gathering of Israeli troops in the Adamit barracks and shelled the military sites of Birkat Risha, al-Malikiyah and al-Sammaqa. No casualties were reported by Hebrew media.
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 in its statements.
In response to the attack, the IDF said its fighter jets attacked targets of Hezbollah in the town of Odaisseh in southern Lebanon.
It also said that troops struck areas in the towns of Kafr Kila and Marjaayoun, presumably to foil planned Hezbollah attacks on northern Israel.
Lebanese media confirmed that several areas in southern Lebanon were hit by air and artillery strikes, but didn’t report any casualties. Ali Shoeib, a correspondent for the Hezbollah-affiliated Al-Manar TV, shared videos on X showing Israeli fighter jets and combat drones flying over southerner Lebanon.
The clashes on the Lebanese-Israeli border first broke out after the start of the war in Gaza, with Hezbollah and its allies carrying out attacks in support of the Strip.
The U.S. is currently making efforts to de-escalate tensions on the border, most likely to allow Israel to focus on its war in Gaza.
Citing a senior Lebanese official, Reuters reported that Hezbollah has rebuffed Washington’s initial ideas for cooling clashes with Israel, such as pulling its fighters further from the border, but remains open to diplomacy to avoid a ruinous war.
“Hezbollah is ready to listen,” a senior Lebanese official familiar with Hezbollah’s thinking said, while emphasizing that the group saw the ideas presented by U.S. negotiator Amos Hochstein on a visit to Beirut last week as “unrealistic.”
Hezbollah’s position is that it will continue to launch cross-border attacks against the IDF until there is a full ceasefire in Gaza.
As of January 18, the border clashes have resulted in six civilian deaths on the Israeli side, as well as the deaths of nine IDF soldiers. On the Lebanese side, more than 200 have been killed. The toll includes 151 Hezbollah fighters, 14 of whom were killed in Syria, 26 Palestinians, a Lebanese soldier, and at least 24 civilians.
