An Israeli airstrike killed at least 18 people in the village of Aitou in northern Lebanon. With reference to the Lebanese Red Cross, Reuters and AP reported about it. It was the first ever strike in an area with a predominantly Christian population. The Israeli forces, which have not yet commented directly on this attack, continue ground operations and airstrikes on the territory of Lebanon, where they are fighting the militant movement Hezbollah. The Israeli army called on residents of another 25 villages in the south of the country to evacuate on Monday.
The military says it has struck 200 targets in the past day that it says are linked to Hezbollah, killing dozens of members of the militant Shiite movement. Meanwhile, Hezbollah said it had fired another volley of rockets at military installations in northern and central Israel, with most of the missiles neutralized, Israel said. News agencies and Israeli media reported on it.
On Sunday, a drone attack on a military base south of the port city of Haifa in northern Israel killed four soldiers and injured five dozen others. It was one of the most serious attacks on the territory of Israel in more than a year of the cross-border conflict with Hezbollah, which, however, only intensified dramatically in recent weeks.
On Monday, Hezbollah said it attacked a naval base near Haifa and also a barracks near the coastal city of Netanya, north of Tel Aviv. The Iran-backed movement said in a statement, according to AFP, that it was “ready to defend its country” now that it found itself at open war with Israel.
The Israeli military said Hezbollah fired about ten rockets into the Haifa area on Monday. Most of them were intercepted by anti-aircraft defense, one landed in open space. In another report, the army announced that it had shot down two drones approaching Israel from Syria before they entered Israeli territory.
Hezbollah began shelling northern Israel last October 8, a day after a shocking attack by the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas on southern Israel. Since then, they have been firing across the border with the Israeli army almost daily. In September, Israel significantly intensified its bombardment of southern Lebanon, but also of Beirut and other cities, where, according to the army, it targets the positions of Hezbollah and its members, including the top leadership. Since October, the Israeli army has also started a ground operation in the Lebanese border.
Source: spravy.pravda.sk
