By Wassim Saifeddin
BEIRUT (AA) – Hezbollah said Wednesday that its fighters targeted sites near the Lebanese border belonging to the Israeli army and a drone as Israel continued to shell several areas of southern Lebanon.
The Lebanese group said its fighters targeted a gathering of Israeli soldiers east of the “Hanita” site with artillery shells, achieving direct hits.
In a separate statement, Hezbollah said it targeted the Israeli Zibdin barracks in the occupied Shebaa Farms with a Falaq missile, hitting it directly.
The group also noted that its fighters targeted the Ruwaisat Al-Alam site in the occupied Lebanese Kfar Shuba Hills as well as the Ramim barracks with rockets, resulting in direct hits.
Additionally, Hezbollah elements targeted an Israeli drone in the border areas with appropriate weapons, forcing it to retreat back into Israel, according to the statement.
Lebanon’s National News Agency reported that Israeli artillery targeted the area of Ras al-Naqoura in southern Lebanon with several shells.
It also said that Israeli forces dropped illuminating bombs over border villages in both the western and central sectors.
The agency said that Israel also shelled the outskirts of the southern border towns of Houla and Markaba and conducted a sweep with machine guns towards the town of Wazzani.
Clashes between the Israeli army and Hezbollah since Oct. 8 last year have resulted in casualties including 242 Hezbollah members, 49 Lebanese civilians, 11 Amal Movement members, 12 Hamas members, 12 Islamic Jihad members, six Israeli civilians and 11 soldiers.
Tension has flared along the border between Lebanon and Israel amid intermittent exchanges of weapons fire between Israeli forces and Hezbollah in the deadliest clashes since the two sides fought a full-scale war in 2006.
Hostilities escalated as Israel continued its military offensive on the Gaza Strip, which has killed nearly 31,300 civilians since a cross-border incursion by the Palestinian group Hamas last October.
At least 300 people are estimated to have been killed in Lebanon since then, including 242 members of Hezbollah. Around 20 Israelis have also been killed, according to Israeli figures.
*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala