Israeli troops escalated their campaign pushing into southern Lebanon on Tuesday even as Hezbollah militants launched more than 100 rockets and missiles at the port city of Haifa.
Israeli fighter jets responded to the Hezbollah attack, striking some of the rocket launchers used to fire at least 105 projectiles at Haifa. They also hit several Hezbollah buildings and anti-tank missile posts in southern Lebanon, Israeli Defense Forces officials said.
Israel announced that a fourth division of reservists was sent into southern Lebanon Monday night, putting the number of troops inside the country at an estimated 15,000. The Biden administration has pressed the Israeli government to pursue a “limited” military operation against Hezbollah for fear of destabilizing Lebanon as a whole and expanding the fighting even further.
Soldiers from the IDF’s Golani Brigade discovered a hidden complex in southern Lebanon that overlooked Israeli towns adjacent to the border. Officials said they uncovered a missile launcher that was loaded and ready to be fired. Israel has justified the incursion into its northern neighbor to stop the Hezbollah missile campaign launched in support of Palestinian Hamas fighters clashing with Israeli forces in Gaza.
Hezbollah, which Israel, the U.S. and many countries consider a terrorist organization, has said it would cease the barrages if Israel agreed to a cease-fire deal in Gaza, but the targeted killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrullah and other top leaders of the Shiite movement in recent days has only fueled fears of a broader conflict.
Israeli units inside Lebanon “also found underground infrastructure, hiding holes, and areas of residence and preparation used by Hezbollah elements,” IDF spokesman Avichay Andraee said Tuesday on X. “Weapons intended for ambushes were also discovered and destroyed.”
Israeli military officials said another top Hezbollah figure, Suhail Husseini, a longtime logistics specialist and a key conduit between the Lebanese group and Iran, has been killed in an airstrike this week. There was no immediate confirmation from Hezbollah to the report.
On Monday, Israeli troops spotted Hezbollah fighters entering a school near the Lebanese village of Tayr Harfa where a rocket launcher had been set up. The building was later destroyed, IDF officials said.
“This is a further example of the Hezbollah terrorist organization’s exploitation of civilian infrastructure,” Israeli military officials said Tuesday on their Telegram messaging site. “Over the past few hours, [Israeli Air Force] fighter jets have continued to strike Hezbollah terror targets in Lebanon, including launchers, terrorist infrastructure sites and anti-tank missile launchers.”
The IDF military expansion into southern Lebanon comes a day after the region marked the first anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023, rampage by Hamas that killed more than 1,200 people, took hundreds of others hostage, and triggered the war in the Gaza Strip.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said a “wave of shocking violence and bloodshed” has erupted in the Middle East since that day, with Israel clashing not just with Hamas and Hezbollah, but with Iran and Yemen’s Houthis as well..
“The war that has followed the terrible attacks of one year ago continues to shatter lives and inflict profound human suffering for Palestinians in Gaza and now the people of Lebanon,” Mr. Guterres said in a statement marking the anniversary. “It is time for the release of the hostages. Time to silence the guns. Time to stop the suffering that has engulfed the region.”
• Mike Glenn can be reached at mglenn@washingtontimes.com.