BEIRUT, Lebanon: Israel battled Hezbollah in south Lebanon as the air force expanded its bombardment of the country, with the Iran-backed group reporting “point-blank” fighting and Israel announcing the capture of a fighter.
It came amid sharpening accusations from UN peacekeepers in south Lebanon, who said Israeli troops “forcibly” entered a position, after the Israeli premier called on the force to withdraw from the area.
Israel’s recent strikes have increasingly focused on areas beyond Hezbollah’s traditional strongholds in the south and east, with the Lebanese health ministry reporting deadly strikes on a Shiite Muslim village in a mostly Christian mountain area and another in the north.
Israeli warplanes also hit a 100-year-old mosque in the village of Kfar Tibnit near the border on Sunday, Lebanon’s official National News Agency (NNA) said.“It was a significant place because families used to gather in the square right next to it (the mosque) on special occasions,” Mayor Fuad Yassin told AFP.
AFPTV footage from the northern Deir Billa area showed rescuers and villagers digging through debris left by a strike with their bare hands.The Israeli military said its 36th division continued “targeted and limited operational activity” against Iran-backed Hezbollah.
The air force hit “Hezbollah launchers, anti-tank missile posts, weapons storage facilities” among other militant targets, and on the ground, soldiers “eliminated dozens” of fighters, it said.
The Israeli military said about 115 projectiles fired by Hezbollah crossed into Israeli territory by Sunday afternoon.A Hezbollah fighter was captured emerging from a tunnel in south Lebanon on Sunday, Israel’s military said, the first such announcement since the start of the ground offensive.
United Nations peacekeepers on Sunday accused Israeli troops of “forcibly” entering one of their positions in south Lebanon.“At around 4:30 am, while peacekeepers were in shelters, two IDF (Israeli military) Merkava tanks destroyed the position’s main gate and forcibly entered the position” in the Ramia area, before leaving 45 minutes later, said the peacekeeping force (UNIFIL).On Saturday, Israeli “soldiers stopped a critical UNIFIL logistical movement near Mais al-Jabal, denying it passage”, it added.