Hezbollah said on early Saturday it was engaged in clashes with Israeli troops in the Lebanese border area, as violence continues to escalate in the region two days before the Gaza war reaches a one-year mark.
Israeli enemy soldiers renewed an attempt to advance towards the vicinity of the municipality in the village of Adaysseh”, and Hezbollah fighters confronted the attempt “and clashes are continuing”, the group said in a statement.
The group also said it targeted troops in south Lebanon’s Yarun area with a “rocket salvo”, as well as soldiers in two points across the border with rockets.
It said earlier that its fighters had forced Israeli troops to “retreat” in the same area.
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Saeed Atallah, a leader of Hamas’ armed wing, al-Qassam brigades, was killed with three family members in an Israeli strike on a Palestinian refugee camp in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli, Hamas-affiliated media reported on Saturday.
Israel said it had targeted the intelligence headquarters of Hezbollah in Beirut and was assessing the damage on Friday after a series of strikes on senior figures in the group that Iran’s Supreme Leader dismissed as counterproductive.
The air attack on Beirut, part of a wider assault that has driven more than 1.2 million Lebanese from their homes, was reported to have targeted the potential successor to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, killed by Israel a week ago.
Hashem Safieddine’s fate was unclear and neither Israel nor Hezbollah have offered any comment.
Response to Iran’s missiles
Israel has been weighing options in its response to Iran’s ballistic missile attack on Tuesday, which Iran had carried out in response to Israel’s military action in Lebanon.
US President Joe Biden said on Friday he would think about alternatives to striking Iranian oil fields if he were in Israel’s shoes, adding that he thinks Israel has not yet concluded how to respond to Iran.
Oil prices have risen on the possibility of an attack on Iran’s oil facilities as Israel pursues its goals of pushing back Hezbollah in Lebanon and eliminating their Hamas allies in Gaza.
The Israeli military said some 70 projectiles were launched from Lebanon into Israeli territory on Friday evening and were either intercepted or fell in open land.
Israel sent ground forces into Lebanon this week after the Iranian missiles attacks. It has said its ground operations are “localized” in villages near the border, but has not specified how far into Lebanon they would advance or how long they would last.
No backing down
Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told a huge crowd in Tehran that Iran and its regional allies would not back down.
Israel’s adversaries in the region should “double your efforts and capabilities… and resist the aggressive enemy,” Khamenei said in a rare appearance leading Friday prayers, at which he mentioned Nasrallah and called Iran’s attack on Israel legal and legitimate.
He said Iran would not “procrastinate nor act hastily to carry out its duty” in confronting Israel.
The semi-official Iranian news agency SNN quoted Revolutionary Guards deputy commander Ali Fadavi as saying on Friday that if Israel attacked, Tehran would target Israeli energy and gas installations.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, visiting Beirut and meeting with top Lebanese officials, said Tehran supported efforts for a ceasefire in Lebanon provided it was backed by Hezbollah and was simultaneous with a Gaza ceasefire.
Araqchi arrived in Damascus to discuss regional developments and bilateral relations with Syrian officials, the Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson said on Saturday.
(with inputs from Reuters, AFP)