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Hezbollah’s Operations Room released a statement on October 18 summarizing the group’s operations against the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) over the past week.
In the statement, Hezbollah said that hundreds of its fighters in southern Lebanon were fighting five divisions of the IDF with more than 70,000 troops and hundreds of military vehicles, adding that recent Israeli attacks focused on the towns of Adaisseh, Rab Thalatheen, Blida, Markaba, Qawzah, Aita al-Shaab, and Ramya.
“According to pre-prepared field plans, the Islamic Resistance fighters confronted the enemy forces in the vicinity and inside some towns by targeting the advance paths, and luring these forces into some advanced ambushes inside some towns villages, where violent clashes took place with the enemy at point blank, especially in the towns of Al-Qawzah and Rab Thalatheen,” the group said.
Ten Israeli troops were killed and more than 150 others were wounded, according to the group, which also said that nine Merkava main battle tanks and four military bulldozers were destroyed.
Hezbollah also said that its rocket force stepped up its attacks “along the Lebanese-Palestinian border and in the settlements and occupied cities in the north, all the way to military bases deep inside occupied Palestine,” using different types of projectiles, including precision-guided missiles for the first time.
“The air force of the Islamic Resistance continues, gradually increasing day after day, to target the enemy’s military bases from the Lebanese-Palestinian border, reaching deep into occupied Palestine, with various types of suicide drones, including the type that is being used for the first time,” the group added, noting that its drones are also counducting “reconnaissance and information gathering missions.”
In addition, Hezbollah said that its air defenses managed to shoot down two Hermes 450 combat drones of the IDF over the past week.
According to the group’s statement, since the start of ground operations in southern Lebanon on September 30 at least 55 Israeli soldiers have been killed and more than 500 others have been wounded. In addition, 20 Merkava tanks, four armored bulldozers, an armored personnel carrier and an armored vehicle have been destroyed.
Hezbollah’s Operations Room concluded the statement by vowing to escalate operations against the IDF in the coming days.
“In line with the directives of the Resistance leadership, the Islamic Resistance Operations Room announces the transition to a new, escalatory phase in the confrontation with the Israeli enemy, the details of which will unfold in the coming days,” it said.
It’s worth noting that the IDF acknowledged on October 17 that two officers and three soldiers from the Golani Brigade’s reconnaissance unit were killed while fighting Hezbollah. The deaths brought the official toll of Israeli troops slain in southern Lebanon to 21.
The clashes on the Lebanese-Israeli border first broke out after the start of the war in the Gaza Strip, with Hezbollah launching attacks in support of the Palestinian enclave. Israel escalated its attacks on Lebanon starting from September 17 and on September 27 it assassinated the Secretary-General of Hezbollah, Hassan Nassrallah.
The IDF officially announced the launch of a limited ground operation against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon on September 30.
So far, the confrontation has resulted in 28 civilian deaths in Israel and the occupied Syrian Golan Heights as well as the deaths of at least 43 soldiers and security officers. On the Lebanese side, more than 2,412 people have been killed, including more than 500 members of Hezbollah.
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