Click to see full-size image. (The Israeli Defense Forces).
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) announced on October 13 that its troops captured a Hezbollah fighter from an underground bunker in southern Lebanon.
Troops identified a tunnel shaft inside a building leading to a 50-square-meter room some seven meters underground, the military said in a statement, adding that the fighter was hunkered down in the bunker, which also held weapons and supplies for an extended stay underground.
The fighter was taken to a detention facility inside of Israel for interrogation, according to the IDF. Video footage showing the alleged fighter were released
If confirmed, this would be the first time Israel has captured a member of Hezbollah since the start of the ongoing confrontation.
Separately, the IDF said that it struck 200 targets of Hezbollah across Lebanon in the past 24 hours. It also released videos showing an alleged weapon cache and a tunnel of the group which were uncovered by Israeli troops while operating in southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah from its side announced in separate statements that its fighters ambushed an Israeli unit and struck an armored vehicle close to the town of Ramyeh. The fighters also clashed with Israeli troops close to the town of Ramyeh. Both towns are located in southern Lebanon.
Hebrew media reported that at least 22 Israeli troops were wounded in southern Lebanon, with some in a serious condition.
The group also shelled several Israeli gatherings along the Lebanese border and fired a salvo of what it described as “special” missiles at the Tirat Carmel base close to the northern Israeli port city of Haifa. The IDF said that five rockets that targeted the city were intercepted.
In addition, Hezbollah claimed responsibility for a drone attack that targeted the settlement of Herzliya, which is located to the north of the central city of Tel Aviv, on October 11. The group released video footage showing the launch of two suicide drones.
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.
The capture of the alleged Hezbollah fighter by the IDF will further complicate the conflict as the group proved in the past that it was willing to do anything to free Lebanese prisoners from Israeli prisons. The group will likely escalate its operations and attempt to capture Israeli troops.
So far, the confrontation has resulted in 29 civilian deaths in Israel and the occupied Syrian Golan Heights as well as the deaths of at least 34 soldiers and security officers. On the Lebanese side, more than 2,255 people have been killed, including more than 500 members of Hezbollah.
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