Hezbollah claims destroying 3 Israeli bulldozers, 2 tanks, causing casualties

By Wassim Seifeddine

BEIRUT (AA) - Hezbollah claimed Tuesday evening that its fighters destroyed three bulldozers and two tanks belonging to the Israeli army on the outskirts of Ramyah town in southern Lebanon, resulting in casualties.

In a statement, the Lebanese group said its fighters targeted a "Merkava tank while attempting to advance to the outskirts of Ramyah with a guided missile, which resulted in its burning and casualties among its crew."

They also targeted "three bulldozers and another Merkava tank on the outskirts of Ramyah with guided missiles, leading to their destruction and casualties among those inside," according to another statement.

Hezbollah reported in a third statement that its fighters targeted Israeli forces near the Ramyah village with artillery shells.

Israel has mounted a huge air campaign in Lebanon against what it claims are Hezbollah targets since Sept. 23, killing more than 1,500 people and displacing more than a million people.

The aerial campaign is an escalation from a year of cross-border warfare between Israel and Hezbollah since the start of its offensive on the Gaza Strip, in which Israel has killed nearly 42,400 people, most of them women and children, since a Hamas attack last year.

Israel expanded the conflict on Oct. 1 by launching an incursion into southern Lebanon.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala