Hezbollah says it downed Israeli drone, targeted Israeli forces in multiple attacks

By Iyad Nabolsi

ISTANBUL (AA) - Hezbollah said Monday that it downed an Israeli drone and targeted Israeli artillery positions and troop gatherings in nine attacks carried out by its fighters on Sunday night.

In a series of statements, the group reported shooting down an Israeli Hermes 900 drone but did not specify the location of the incident.

Hezbollah also said it launched rocket barrages at Israeli artillery positions in the Beit Hillel and Odem settlements, as well as the Beit Hillel military base in northern Israel.

The group fighters also targeted Israeli troop concentrations in Khillat Warda, the eastern neighborhood of the town of Markaba, and a military movement in Jabal Kehail in the southern Lebanese town of Maroun El Ras.

Additionally, Hezbollah launched missile strikes on Israeli forces at the Al-Malkiyya site and hit the Kiryat Shmona settlement in northern Israel.

Israel has mounted a huge air campaign in Lebanon since Sept. 23 against what it says are Hezbollah targets, killing more than 1,500 people and displacing over 1.34 million.

The aerial campaign is an escalation from a year of cross-border warfare between Israel and the Lebanese group since the start of its offensive on the Gaza Strip, in which Israel has killed more than 42,600 people, most of them women and children, since a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas last October.

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

*Writing by Mohammad Sio​​​​​​​