Israeli invasion advances along the coastal, east fronts in south Lebanon amid intense fighting with Hezbollah

The Israeli army claimed it is "deployed in several forward positions" in southern Lebanon, advancing amid heavy fighting with Hezbollah on different fronts — on Friday mainly along the coast near Bayyada and Shamaa south of Sour, Dibil and Beit Lif in the central border strip, and Qantara and Deir Siryan in the east.

Ground pushes were accompanied by airstrikes in several southern regions that killed at least five in Saksakieh (Saida) in particular, as well as rarer raids on the Bekaa and Beirut's southern suburb.

Advances along three fronts in southern Lebanon

Since Thursday night, Hezbollah has reported targeting Israeli advances on three different axes, backed by airstrikes and artillery fire.

In the eastern sector, near Bayyada, "close-quarters combat" continued throughout the day with Israeli forces present in this village as well as the neighboring locality of Shamaa, south of Sour on the coast. Hezbollah fighters are reportedly using "light and medium-caliber weapons" in these clashes, according to the group, which also claimed a drone attack on a Merkava tank and on soldiers "infiltrated into a house" on the outskirts of Shamaa, a village regularly bombarded by Israeli air force and white phosphorus artillery.

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Hezbollah also claimed a series of attacks in the morning on Israeli soldiers in the central border area, especially at Khellet al-Jwar, east of Beit Lif (Bint Jbeil), and on soldiers and military vehicles positioned near the pond of neighboring Debel. Hezbollah forces had already clashed with Israeli soldiers around this still-inhabited Christian village on Wednesday.

Fighting is also ongoing in the eastern sector along the Taybeh-Qantara-Deir Siryan axis, with rockets, artillery fire, and ambushes against Israeli army vehicles. The Israeli army said that one officer and one soldier were seriously wounded overnight by a grenade explosion in battles in southern Lebanon.

Israeli deployment

Israeli military spokesperson for foreign media Effie Defrin said the armed forces were "deployed in forward positions in South Lebanon, in the border area" with Israel. In a video message, he stated that Israel "will not allow Hezbollah to rearm," accusing the group of "stockpiling military equipment" in the south in violation of the Nov. 27, 2024 cease-fire agreement. "If the Lebanese government will not disarm Hezbollah, the IDF [Israeli army] will," he warned.

The army's Arabic spokesperson Avichay Adraee, announced the seizure of several weapons, particularly in tunnels discovered in the south, including in Khiam. This underground infrastructure, "belonging to Hezbollah near a church," was reportedly found by the Givati Brigade forces operating under the command of the 91st Division.

In a statement posted on X, the Israeli military also said that soldiers from the 401st Brigade "spotted a Hezbollah fighter emerging from a tunnel while opening fire in their direction," adding that Israeli forces quickly responded and "neutralized" him. The statement did not specify the location of these clashes.

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Deadly strikes near Saida and in the Bekaa

Since morning, the Israeli air force launched a series of strikes on Nabatieh, Bint Jbeil, and Sour districts, including a cultural complex in Haris, Kafra. The Saida region was also targeted in the early afternoon by several deadly air raids. An inhabited building in Saksakieh was hit by a strike that killed four and injured eight in a still densely populated residential area, according to our correspondent in the area.

A second strike hit the same coastal village south of Saida shortly after the first, killing one. Another air raid targeted Sarafand, in the same area, between Kharroubi Hospital and the shopping center.

In northern Bekaa, an Israeli airstrike hit the village of Bazalieh, according to our correspondent in the region, killing a woman and wounding four others. The victim was identified as Sara al-Qadi, who was seven months pregnant. The strike, which hit a house in the center of the locality, blocked the road connecting Baalbeck to Homs in Syria.

A surface-to-air missile towards an Israeli plane over Beirut

Hezbollah announced that it had fired a surface-to-air missile at an Israeli plane in the sky over Beirut at 5 p.m., without specifying whether the aircraft was hit.

Although the group has previously fired missiles at Israeli planes over southern Lebanon, this is the first time it has announced such an attack over Beirut. No Israeli planes had been shot down in previous attacks.

Strikes on the southern suburb and attacks against northern Israel

Israeli strikes, on Friday dawn and another in the afternoon, hit the Tahwitat al-Ghadir neighborhood in the southern suburb of Beirut. The afternoon strike, with three missiles on a residential apartment, killed two people, according to the Health Ministry. The Israeli military also reiterated its call to evacuate several neighborhoods of southern Beirut, after the strike.

During the day, local channel al-Jadeed reported that an Israeli drone hit the al-Amana gas station in the southern suburb of Jnah, prompting the Iranian embassy, located near the site of the strike, to close its entrances as a precautionary measure.

At night, the southern suburbs were bombed again, with local media reporting the site attacked was in Mraijeh neighborhood. The Israeli army said it was carrying out "a series of extensive airstrikes targeting the infrastructure of the terrorist Hezbollah in Beirut."