Israel army says struck Hizbollah military site in south Lebanon
5 hours ago
Lebanese army soldier and forensic inspect a burnt-out vehicle in Braiqaa in south Lebanon's Nabatiyeh district, on Sunday. AFP
Israel's army said it struck a Hizbollah military site in south Lebanon on Sunday, and killed an operative from the Iran-backed group in a separate strike earlier in the day.
"A short while ago, the IDF (military) struck several launchers and a military infrastructure site from which terrorists operated in the area of Nabatieh in southern Lebanon," the military said in a statement, adding it had "struck and eliminated" a Hizbollah operative in the Houla area earlier in the day.
Meanwhile, Lebanese authorities detained several people who were allegedly planning to launch rockets into Israel and seized the weapons, the military said on Sunday.
The army said the arrests were linked to other detentions announced earlier this week. It added that as military intelligence was investigating that case they got information that a new rocket attack was being planned.
Lebanese army soldiers and forensics inspect the site of an explosion in Braiqaa in south Lebanon's Nabatiyeh district, on Sunday. AFP
The army said troops raided an apartment near the southern port city of Sidon and seized some of the rockets and the launchers and detained several people who were involved in the operation. It said they were referred to judicial authorities.
Authorities on Wednesday detained several people, including a number of Palestinians, who were allegedly involved in firing rockets toward Israel in two separate attacks in late March that triggered intense Israeli airstrikes on parts of Lebanon. Lebanon's group denied at the time that it was behind the firing of rockets.
Meanwhile on Sunday, a series of Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon killed two people, the Lebanese Civil Defense said in a statement. The Israeli army said in a statement that it killed Hussein Ali Nasr, whom it described as the deputy head of Hezbollah's Unit 4400. Israel said Nasr helped smuggle weapons and funds into Lebanon via "Iranian operatives," including through Beirut airport.
In a separate incident, three Lebanese soldiers were killed after ammunition a Lebanese army vehicle was carrying exploded, the army said in a statement. The circumstances in which the explosion happened were unclear.
Since a November ceasefire ended a 14-month war between Israel and Hezbollah, Israeli airstrikes have killed scores of people in Lebanon including civilians and members. Israel says it's targeting holdouts in southern Lebanon.
leader Naim Kassem said Friday that its fighters will not disarm as long as Israeli troops remain in southern Lebanon and the Israeli air force regularly violates Lebanese air space.