Hezbollah says more than 20 Israeli soldiers killed, injured in southern Lebanon

​​​​​​​By Wassim Saif Al-Din

BEIRUT, Lebanon (AA) - Hezbollah announced Friday that more than 20 Israeli elite soldiers were killed or wounded in clashes in a border village in southern Lebanon.

The group said it recorded additional casualties for Israeli forces following heavy rocket fire that targeted a tank and military gatherings in areas near the border.

Hezbollah fighters destroyed an Israeli Merkava tank near the Malikiya post with a guided missile, resulting in the deaths and injuries of the crew, it said.

Additionally, the group launched rocket attacks on the outskirts of Haifa and artillery positions near Kiryat Shmona.

Hezbollah also targeted several Israeli positions, including Rweissat al-Alam in the occupied Kafr Shuba hills, as well as military forces in Karmiel and Sa’sa with heavy missiles and rockets.

The group reported bombarding the Nafah base and soldier gatherings near the al-Baghdadi post in northern Israel.

Rocket fire struck Israeli military positions east of Doviv, the Maroun al-Ras plain and near the settlements of Avivim and Yiron, it said.

Advancing Israeli forces were struck with artillery and rockets west of Yiron, leading to additional casualties.

Hezbollah claimed to have targeted Israeli soldiers attempting to infiltrate the Lebanese village of Maroun al-Ras, causing additional losses through explosives and close-range clashes.

As of late Friday, no official comment had been made by Israel.

The attacks follow the death of Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah who was killed in an Israeli attack last week.

Hezbollah and Israel have been engaged in cross-border hostilities since Israel launched its war on Gaza on Oct. 7 last year, a conflict that has resulted in the deaths of more than 41,800 victims, most of them women and children.

Israeli strikes on Lebanon have killed at least 2,011 people, injured more than 9,500 and displaced 1.2 million, according to Lebanese authorities.

The international community has expressed concern that Israel's ongoing attacks in Lebanon could escalate the Gaza conflict into a broader regional war.

*Writing by Alperen Aktas from Istanbul