Hezbollah targets Israeli soldiers near border with Lebanon

By Iyad Nabolsi

BEIRUT (AA) – Hezbollah announced on Wednesday morning that its fighters have targeted a group of Israeli soldiers near the border with Lebanon.

According to a statement from the Lebanon-based group, its fighters used rockets to target a group of Israeli soldiers at the Al-Marj military site near the Lebanese town of Markaba.

The Israeli military has yet to comment on the attack.

The latest attack comes a day after the group stated that it had carried out 34 military operations against Israeli targets in southern Lebanon and northern Israel.

Late on Tuesday, Hezbollah issued a statement saying its fighters have killed over 110 Israeli soldiers and injured over 1,050 more since Israel's ground incursion into southern Lebanon that began in early October.

Hezbollah's statement coincides with the arrival of US special envoy for Lebanon Amos Hochstein in Beirut, where he hopes to push forward a cease-fire agreement between Israel and Lebanon.

Following his meeting with Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on Tuesday, Hochstein said that a cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah to end the conflict is “within our grasp.”

Hochstein is also expected to travel to Israel on Wednesday.

The US, Israel’s main ally, is mediating between Tel Aviv and Beirut to reach a cease-fire deal to end more than a year of attacks between Hezbollah and Israel.

Israel has engaged in cross-border warfare with Lebanon, launching an air campaign in late September against what it claims are Hezbollah targets.

More than 3,500 people have been killed by Israeli attacks in Lebanon, with nearly 15,000 injured and more than a million displaced since last October, according to Lebanese health authorities.

Tel Aviv expanded the conflict by launching a ground assault into southern Lebanon on Oct. 1 this year.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar