Smoke rises during an Israeli bombardment on the village of Kfar Shuba in southern Lebanon, near the border with Israel, on Sept. 16, 2024. (Credit: Rabih Daher/AFP)
A Hezbollah fighter was killed on Monday and four others were injured in an Israeli strike that hit a residence in Houla, in the Marjeyoun district, according to our correspondent in South Lebanon.
In a statement, Hezbollah confirmed the death of its member, Mohammad Ibrahim Yassine, born in 1993 in Houla. The Lebanese Ministry of Health reported one death and four injuries from the strike.
Other Lebanese villages were also targeted by the Israeli military. Israeli artillery fired on the outskirts of Kfar Shuba (Hasbaya). An Israeli drone dropped a bomb on two Syrian farmers in the Wazzani region (Marjayoun), but neither was injured. Israeli shelling also hit Hanine (Bint Jbeil). Israeli planes conducted airstrikes on Tayr Harfa (Sour), Kfar Shuba (Hasbaya), Blida, and Odaisseh (Marjayoun), according to local residents. Israeli artillery shells targeted Kfar Kila (Marjayoun). Phosphorus shells were fired at the Sarda farm near Wazzani (Hasbaya), residents reported.
The Israeli military stated it had “targeted Hezbollah military buildings in Houla (Marjayoun district) in southern Lebanon,” according to Arab-speaking spokesperson Avichay Adraee. “After alerts issued in the Upper Galilee region at 2:19 p.m., several rockets were fired from Lebanon, some of which were intercepted while others landed in open areas without causing injuries,” he wrote on X. The military also claimed that its combat aircraft attacked Hezbollah weapon depots and military structures in Tayr Harfa, Odaisseh, Blida and Kfar Shuba. A rocket and an anti-tank missile fired from Lebanon also landed near Metula in northern Israel on Monday morning, causing property damage but no reported casualties.
Hezbollah's Response
Hezbollah claimed responsibility for a series of attacks against Israel. The group targeted the Israeli site of Birket Risha, opposite the Lebanese town of Boustan (Sour district), with artillery shells at 1:45 p.m. Its fighters also targeted Israeli positions around Metula, opposite Khiam (Marjayoun), with rocket fire. Hezbollah launched a “precision drone attack on an assembly of Israeli soldiers near Metula,” opposite Khiam in the Marjeyoun district, and a rocket attack at 2:30 p.m. against Israeli artillery positions in Za'oura, facing Mhaybib (Marjayoun). At 4:25 p.m., Hezbollah fired a “salvo of Katyusha rockets” at the Israeli site of Metula, opposite Khiam, and the Israeli barracks in Ramim, opposite the Lebanese village of Markaba in the Marjayoun district, in retaliation for the Israeli strike on Houla. The Shiite group also attacked an assembly of Israeli soldiers near the Israeli base of Metat at 4:35 p.m., the Israeli site of Roueissat el-Alam in the contested hills of Kfar Shuba at 4:35 p.m., and the Samaka base at 5 p.m.
Hochstein in Israel
The Israeli military reported that several soldiers were lightly injured overnight from Sunday to Monday by two drones that exploded in northern Golan Heights, partly occupied by Israel. According to the military statement, the soldiers received treatment on-site and did not require evacuation. The village of Majdel Shams in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights announced Monday that its schools would be closed for the next two days due to the current security situation following the explosion of two drones less than 10 kilometers from the town, Haaretz reported.
On the political front, the prospect of a diplomatic solution to end the near-daily clashes between the Israeli military and Hezbollah is "diminishing," according to Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, as stated in a press release from his office on Monday. "The possibility of a negotiated framework for the northern front is fading as Hezbollah continues to align itself with Hamas; the dynamic is clear," Gallant said during a phone call with U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin late Sunday night.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also stated on Sunday, "We will do whatever is necessary to ensure (the residents of the North) return home safely. The status quo cannot continue. We need to change the balance of power at our northern border."
Gallant's remarks came as U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein arrived in Tel Aviv on Monday for talks with Israeli leaders. "During his meeting with U.S. envoy Hochstein, Prime Minister Netanyahu clearly and firmly stated that it would not be possible to return our citizens (to their homes near the Israeli-Lebanese border) without a radical change in the security situation in the north," according to a statement from Netanyahu’s office reported by AFP.
According to Haaretz, the U.S. envoy told his Israeli counterparts that the United States does not believe that a broader conflict in Lebanon would contribute to the return of northern residents to their homes. Hochstein warned that an escalation of the fighting could turn into a regional conflict. He added that the U.S. remains committed to a diplomatic solution at the Israeli-Lebanese border, with or without an agreement on Gaza.