[IsraelTimes] Military sources report signs of ‘exhaustion’ among terror group’s fighters; Gallant warns Israel has ‘more surprises in store’; over 180 rockets fired at north on FridayMore than 250 Hezbollah operatives have been killed during Israeli military operations in southern Lebanon since troops began a ground offensive there earlier this week, the Israel Defense Forces said Friday, as Defense Minister Yoav Gallant warned Israel has “more surprises in store” and the Lebanese terror group bombarded the north with rocket salvos.
The Israeli ground operations in southern Lebanon have been described by the IDF as “limited, localized, and targeted raids,” with the goal of demolishing Hezbollah’s infrastructure in the border area, especially in the villages adjacent to Israel, to enable residents of the north to return home.
Military officials have said that the Israel Defense Forces intends for the operations to end as quickly as possible, even within a few weeks.
Among the 250 Hezbollah fighters killed since the ground offensive started late Monday are at least 21 field commanders, according to the IDF, including five brigade-level commanders, 10 company commanders, and six platoon commanders.
The Israeli toll in the ground offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon stands at nine.
The IDF’s 98th and 36th divisions were operating in several Lebanese villages close to the Israeli border, where the military said troops had located a large amount of weapons and infrastructure that Hezbollah left behind.
More than half a million Lebanese civilians have fled southern Lebanon following IDF evacuation warnings, according to military assessments, including residents of 37 towns and villages who were told Friday morning to immediately leave flee the area and head north of the Awali River. The IDF has said it would update the civilians when it is safe to return.
Troops have mostly come under anti-tank missile fire and mortar attacks amid the operations, though there have also been several close-quarters engagements. In one incident Thursday, IDF paratroopers killed some 15 Hezbollah operatives who were spotted in buildings and tunnel shafts in a village in southern Lebanon. Only one soldier was wounded in the engagement.
The ground operations were launched as Israel continued to carry out strikes on the terror group’s top commanders in the capital Beirut, capabilities across the country, and weapon shipments from Iran.
In southern Lebanon, amid the ground operations, more than 2,000 Hezbollah sites have been struck from the air, the IDF added.
Military sources said the IDF has seen signs of “exhaustion” among Hezbollah’s fighters in southern Lebanon, but did not offer further details on how this was manifesting. The military attributed Hezbollah forces’ weariness to the killing of many of the terror group’s commanders, including numerous field officers.
“Hezbollah is receiving very severe blows, one after the other. We eliminated [Hezbollah chief Hassan] Nasrallah and we have more surprises in store, some of which have already been carried out and some of which will be carried out,” Gallant said Friday during a visit to the 36th Division’s headquarters in northern Israel. The division’s troops are operating in southern Lebanon.
“[Hezbollah’s] missile and rocket division suffered a very heavy blow. A significant part was destroyed as a result of a high-quality and precise operation. Command and control headquarters, communications, the entire leadership of [the elite Radwan Force], and in fact the entire second and third tiers of command below Nasrallah were eliminated,” he continued.
Gallant added that the IDF was “carrying out an operation today in several villages, and this process will continue wherever necessary to destroy all the infrastructure from which Hezbollah planned to carry out attacks.”
ROCKET ATTACKS ON NORTH AND STRIKES IN LEBANON
Meanwhile, some 180 rockets were fired from Lebanon in barrages targeting northern Israel throughout the day, including over 70 rockets in a two-hour span on Friday evening. According to the IDF, many of the rockets were shot down by air defenses, and the remainder struck open areas.
Separately, two suspected drones that entered Israeli airspace from Lebanon a short while ago were shot down by the Israeli Air Force, the military said.
Earlier, some two dozen rockets were fired from Lebanon at the Haifa area in a pair of salvos Friday morning, setting off sirens in the northern coastal city and surrounding communities. The military said most of the projectiles were intercepted while others struck open ground.
Additionally, rockets were fired toward the Galilee area. Those too were either intercepted or hit non-populated areas.
There were no reports of injuries or major damage in the attacks.
On the opposite side of the border, the IDF said fighter jets and drones struck dozens of Hezbollah sites across Lebanon in the past day. The military said targets in Beirut included weapon depots, command rooms, intelligence sites, surveillance equipment, and other infrastructure. In southern Lebanon, the IDF said dozens of Hezbollah weapon depots, cells of operatives, rocket launchers, and buildings used by the terror group were struck.
The Israeli strikes and rocket fire from Lebanon came after Israel carried out intensive strikes in Beirut late Thursday that reportedly targeted Hashem Safieddine, Hezbollah’s next projected leader following the assassination last week of the terror group’s chief Hassan Nasrallah. There has been no word on his fate and neither the IDF or Hezbollah have yet to comment on the attack.
On Friday, the military announced it killed the commander of Hezbollah’s communications division in a separate airstrike in Beirut late Thursday. According to the IDF, Muhammad Rashid Sakafi headed Hezbollah’s communications since 2000 and was considered close to the terror group’s leadership.
“Sakafi invested significant efforts to develop communication capabilities between all of Hezbollah’s units in all periods of operation, to maintain the flow of information throughout the terrorist organization,” the military added.
Hezbollah says it’s in ongoing clashes with Israeli troops in Lebanon border area
[IsraelTimes] Hezbollah says it is engaged in ongoing clashes with Israeli troops in the Lebanon border area, after earlier saying it forced Israeli soldiers to retreat there.
“Israeli enemy soldiers renewed an attempt to advance towards the vicinity of the municipality in the village of Odaisseh” and Hezbollah fighters confronted the attempt “and clashes are continuing,” the group says in a statement.
The Iran-backed Lebanese terror group also says it targeted troops in south Lebanon’s Yaroun area with a “rocket salvo,” as well as soldiers in two points across the border with rockets.