An Israeli army main battle tank is deployed at a position along the border with Lebanon in northern Israel on Oct. 1, 2024. (Credit: Ahmad Gharabli/AFP)
A notable escalation of hostilities took place on Monday, with the entry of several Israeli tanks into Aita al-Shaab (Bint Jbeil) where fierce fighting continues between the Israeli army and Hezbollah. Tanks also crossed the border into the valley between Rmeish and Aita al-Shaab, intensifying violence in the region.
Israeli soldiers blew up several buildings in Aita el-Chaab. Already on Sunday, a neighborhood in Mais al-Jabal, a school and a cemetery in Blida had been booby-trapped and razed by the Israeli army.
Hezbollah announced that it carried out several attacks against Israeli soldiers present on Lebanese territory. Rockets were fired at 8:15 a.m. and 9:15 a.m. at Israeli soldiers on the eastern outskirts of Markaba (Marjayoun), causing "casualties." An hour later, a new salvo was launched as the Israeli army attempted to recover its dead and wounded. Shortly before 11:00 a.m., Hezbollah again targeted Israeli soldiers at the same location, near Markaba.
Artillery fire also targeted soldiers at the Kfar Kila crossing (Marjayoun), while an attack involving a "large number of rockets" targeted Israeli soldiers in an area between the villages of Rab al-Talatine, Odeisseh and Markaba.
Hezbollah also claimed responsibility for several strikes against Israeli positions, targeting the Kilaa barracks in the occupied Syrian Golan, as well as the town of Ma'alot Tarshiha, located 10 kilometers from the Blue Line, and Karmiel, east of Acre. The party also attacked the Israeli army's "position 2222" on Mount Hermon and two gatherings of Israeli soldiers in the villages of Zar'it, opposite Marwahine (Sour), and Shomera, opposite Ramieh (Bint Jbeil). In addition, Hezbollah said it fired surface-to-air missiles at Israeli planes flying over Lebanese territory, claiming to have forced them to leave Lebanese airspace.
Rescuers killed
In addition, the Lebanese Ministry of Health announced in a statement that four medics were killed and five others injured in Israeli strikes in the past 24 hours, adding that three ambulances were damaged in these attacks. According to our information, since the beginning of the conflict on Oct. 8, 2023, nearly 150 medics and health professionals have been killed.
On the night of Sunday to Monday, a paramedic from the Islamic Health Committee (affiliated with Hezbollah) was killed in an airstrike on an ambulance, near Bir al-Salassel (Bint Jbeil) in south Lebanon. Later in the day, the civil defense affiliated with the Amal Movement, the al-Rissala scouts, announced the death of two of its members, Sadek Chahine, 17, and Abbas Ahmad al-Shab, 18, killed in an Israeli strike on Babilieh, according to L'Orient-Le Jour's correspondent in south Lebanon. Another paramedic was also killed in a raid carried out by an Israeli drone on Burj al-Shemali, in Sour. Also, a gathering point for paramedics from the Islamic Health Committee was targeted in Ansar (Nabatieh) as was a center of the al-Rissala scouts located in Anqoun.
Deadly strikes continued throughout the day. An airstrike on Srifa, west of Sour, killed two people, Ali Kashmar and Ali Eid, according to information from L'Orient-Le Jour's correspondent. Another Israeli strike on Kharayeb (Saida) killed four people and wounded four others. It appears that one of those killed was a fighter from the Amal Movement, Hussein Mohammad al-Dor, born in 2002. Also in Saida, an Israeli strike on Kfar Hatta left at least one person dead. Three people are still missing. In Arabsalim (Nabatieh) three people were killed in an Israeli attack. In the same district, at least one person was killed in Marwanieh and other people are missing under the rubble.
The south and the Bekaa pounded
In the Bekaa, Israeli strikes also caused several casualties. According to the Ministry of Health, six people, including a child, were killed and five others injured in an attack on the Nabi Enaam neighborhood in Baalbeck. Israeli aircraft also bombed a farm in the Bednayel plain, killing a Syrian national. In Yohmor, two people were killed in another strike, while in the Hermel region, at least four people, including two children, were also killed in an Israeli attack. In addition to these deadly strikes, a dozen different localities were also targeted by Israeli bombardments: Tarya, Beit Msheik, Bouday, Shaab, Douris, Bazalieh, Zalaya, Hermel, where a house and a supermarket were destroyed, as well as Yohmor, Temnine, Sohmor and Ras al-Assi.
In south Lebanon, Israeli artillery repeatedly pounded Khiam (Marjayoun). Israeli aircraft carried out four strikes on homes in the village, as well as on Deir Serian, also located in this district. In the Jezzine district, two airstrikes targeted the heights of Jabbour, followed by another attack in Sajad. In addition, Israeli warplanes struck the village of Shebaa (Hasbaya). In Nabatiyeh, strikes targeted residential neighborhoods in Marwanieh, Habbouch, Yohmor al-Shakif and Jibsheet, as well as the towns of Toul and Kfar Joz.
In the Bint Jbeil district, Israeli strikes hit Kounin, Yater, Kouzah, Siddiqine and Kafr. In Sour, the towns of Ain Baal, Bazouriyeh and Sammaiyeh were also targeted. An Israeli drone carried out an attack on a car near the Platinum Hotel in Sour, and another targeted a van in Debaal.
