Israel has not gained control of any southern Lebanon town: Hezbollah MP

Hezbollah MP Hassan Fadlallah said Thursday that Israel "has not managed to take control of any village" in southern Lebanon since launching its ground offensive on Sept. 30.

On that day, the Israeli army announced "limited and targeted operations" in southern Lebanon aimed at destroying Hezbollah infrastructure, with the stated goal of securing the area to allow residents of northern Israeli villages to return. Since then, Israeli units have advanced on several areas where they regularly clash with Hezbollah fighters. The group has reported dozens of attacks against these incursions or on Israeli soldiers within Lebanese territory.

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"Despite the heavy bombardment," Israel has not taken any villages, and Hezbollah "on the ground knows how to fight" against Israeli advances, Fadlallah told reporters. "The enemy uses a tactic of taking photos and then fleeing," he added, referring to recent images circulating on social media of Israeli soldiers in front of the Ramieh municipality and another of an Israeli flag in Maroun al-Ras park. The Israeli army also held a media tour in the ruins of a southern village, identified online as Blida.

Fadlallah said Israel has "failed to achieve its goal of resettling the settlers in the North or pushing away the resistance fighters." He described Hezbollah’s "heroic" operations as something that "cannot be captured by images or words."

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'Netanyahu thought he could impose a new Middle East'

The lawmaker emphasized that Hezbollah’s "continuous rocket fire" proves Israel's "failure." On the battlefield, the group has "turned the tables" on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who "believed that by killing party leaders and committing massacres, he could impose a new Middle East," Fadlallah said.

Since the start of the ground offensive, the Israeli army has only reported the deaths of 12 soldiers along the border, and four others killed by a Hezbollah drone attack on a military mess hall south of Tel Aviv. Hezbollah, meanwhile, claims to have killed dozens of Israeli soldiers but has not disclosed any information about its own casualties at the border since late September.