Israeli troops reach deepest point into Lebanon before being pushed back by Hezbollah militants
16 November 2024, 22:05
Israeli troops have reached their deepest point into Lebanon - before being pushed back by Hezbollah militants.
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Israeli troops captured a strategic hill in the southern Lebanese village of Chamaa, about three miles from the Israeli border, early on Saturday, the state-run National News Agency reported.
The village is the furthest into the state that IDF ground forces have reached since the beginning of their invasion six weeks ago.
The same source said Israeli troops were later pushed back from the hill.
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The agency added that Israeli troops blew up the Shrine of Shimon the Prophet in Chamaa as well as several homes before they withdrew, but the claim could not be verified.
Israel's military said its troops "continue their limited, localised and targeted operational activity in southern Lebanon".
The push on the ground came as Israeli planes pounded Beirut's southern suburbs as well as several other areas in southern Lebanon including the port city of Tyre.
An airstrike on the northeastern village of Khraibeh killed a couple and their four children, the National News Agency said.
Shrapnel from one strike wounded a teenage girl in the head in a southern Beirut suburb and she was in an intensive care unit, a hospital official said.
The morning strike in Beirut hit an area known as Dahiyeh, which the Israeli military called a Hezbollah stronghold, saying its planes hit multiple sites used by the militant group.
Residents were given advance warning by Israel, and it was not immediately clear whether there were any casualties.
Israel's military said a soldier died in combat in southern Lebanon on Friday.
The military also said a synagogue was struck and two civilians hurt in a "heavy rocket barrage" by Hezbollah on Haifa, northern Israel's largest city.
Police said they were lightly injured. Israel said Hezbollah fired more than 60 projectiles into Israel on Saturday. There was no immediate Hezbollah statement.
The increase in violence came as Lebanese and Hezbollah officials study a draft proposal presented by the US earlier this week on ending the war.
Since late September, Israel has dramatically escalated its bombardment of Lebanon, vowing to cripple Hezbollah and end its barrages in Israel.
More than 3,400 people have been killed in Lebanon by Israeli fire - 80% of them in eight weeks - according to Lebanon's Health Ministry.
