Lebanon’s Hezbollah says it mounted multiple strikes on Israeli army positions including its first using explosive drones.
The powerful resistance movement has been exchanging fire with Israeli forces across the Lebanese border since Oct. 7, in the most serious escalation at the frontier since a 2006 war.
Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah is due on Friday to deliver his first speech since the war began.
As one of the most prominent figures in the Arab world, Nasrallah is a leading voice in a regional “Axis of Resistance” established to counter the United States and Israel.
Recognized even by critics as a skilled leader, his speeches have long been followed closely by friend and foe alike.
The axis includes Iraqi fighters who have been firing at US forces in Syria and Iraq in reaction to the ruthless Israeli carnage in the Gaza Strip, and Yemen’s Ansarullah which has waded into the conflict by firing drones at Israel.
Hezbollah said in a statement its fighters launched 19 simultaneous strikes on Israeli army positions on Thursday using guided missiles, artillery and other weapons.
It said two drones packed with explosives struck an army command position in the Israeli-occupied Shebaa Farms area at the border.
The armed wing of Hamas called the Qassam Brigades in Lebanon said it had fired 12 missile towards the Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona and its vicinity. The group said the attack was a response to the massacre of Palestinians in Gaza.
Israeli shelling struck the outskirts of Khiyam town some 6 km from the border in Lebanon, slightly injuring one civilian, the town’s mayor, Ali Rashed, was quoted as saying.
His house caught fire and people were putting it out, the mayor said, adding the intensity of the shelling was higher than previous days.
“The shelling and the counter shelling were more than any previous level and included the whole area,” he told Reuters.
According to Lebanon’s National News Agency, Israeli shells hit various areas of the south along the Lebanese border.
Hezbollah’s attack using explosive drones came a few days after the movement said for the first time it had used a surface-to-air missile against an Israeli drone.
