Israeli military bombs home in Lebanese town of Daoudiya, killing 10
The Israeli military bombed a home in the southern Lebanese town of Daoudiya, killing at least 10 people and wounding five others, the Lebanese National News Agency reports. All of those killed belong to the Diab family, according to the NNA.
Hezbollah fires artillery at Israeli troops in Metula
Hezbollah says it targeted Israeli troops across the border in Metula with artillery fire, but the armed group made no mention of Israel’s announcement that it began a ground incursion into Lebanon.
Israel announced overnight it launched “limited” raids into the border area of southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah attacked “a movement of enemy soldiers in Metula with artillery shells”, it said in a statement. In another, it said it targeted a “gathering of enemy soldiers” in the same area with rockets.
The Israeli army said on X that five rockets were fired this morning from Lebanon towards Metula. Some were intercepted while the rest fell into an open area.
Several rockets were fired towards Avivim, in the Upper Galilee, which also dropped in uninhabited territory, it added.
Israeli military says commandos, paratroopers part of ground offensive
The Israeli military’s Arabic-language spokesperson Avichay Adraee says elements of Israel’s 98th Division, including the commando, paratrooper and armoured brigades, have begun “targeted and specific activities in the South Lebanon area”.
The units had been preparing for the ground offensive into Lebanon for the past few weeks, Adraee said in a post on social media, which included a video clip of Israeli troops operating at night in apparent preparation for the incursion.
Israeli soldiers work on tanks at a staging area in northern Israel near the Israel-Lebanon border
‘Heavy fighting’: Israeli army issues warning for Litani River area
The Israeli army says intense fighting with Hezbollah is taking place in southern Lebanon, spokesperson Avichay Adraee posted on X. He also issued a warning for residents not to move in their vehicles from the northern area to the southern area of the Litani River.
In northern Israel, projectiles were fired at the Metula and Avivim areas, the military said, adding some were intercepted while others fell in open areas.
Israel is ‘going to go all the way with this’
Beirut-based political commentator Jamal Ghosn says Israel is attempting to intimidate Hezbollah into surrendering but “that’s not going to happen”.
“They’re trying to win with a knockout, that’s the Israeli strategy. Starting with the major intelligence coup with the pager attacks and all the way to targeting the top leadership of Hezbollah,” Ghosn told Al Jazeera.
“They’re trying to say ‘we’re more powerful than you, we’re rabid dogs and nobody can control us. The US can’t stop us, Europe can’t stop us. We are going to go all the way with this’.”
Israel is repeating the scenario from Gaza in Lebanon with indiscriminate attacks that are killing civilians, said Ghosn. “It’s a crime of war. In Gaza it’s a genocide, according to international law, and why should we not expect the same thing here.”
