“For your personal safety, we ask you not to travel in vehicles from the north to the south of the Litani,” adds the spokesperson for the Israeli army in reference to a Lebanese river, accusing Hezbollah of use civilians as “human shields”.
The Israeli army reported on Tuesday “violent fighting” in southern Lebanon after the launch of a military ground offensive against Hezbollah, and urged the Lebanese not to go to the south of their country “on board of vehicles” for their “own safety”.
“Heavy fighting is taking place in southern Lebanon,” wrote Avichai Adraee, spokesperson for the Israeli army, in a message published in Arabic on Telegram. “For your personal safety, we ask you not to travel in vehicles from the north to the south of the Litani,” he adds in reference to a Lebanese river, accusing Hezbollah of using civilians as “human shields”.
Hezbollah claimed on Tuesday to have twice targeted Israeli soldiers in Metula, in northern Israel, after the announcement overnight of the start of “limited ground operations” in southern Lebanon by the Israeli army.
The pro-Iranian movement declared having fired artillery and then rockets on “enemy troops” in Metula, located on the border with Lebanon.
Several countries, including Canada and the United Kingdom, have announced that they have chartered flights to evacuate their nationals from Lebanon. France, for its part, deployed a military ship as a “precaution” in the event of a need to evacuate its nationals.
The Israeli army clarified on Tuesday that these ground operations in Lebanon, which began Monday evening, were “limited, localized and targeted” against Hezbollah’s “terrorist targets and infrastructure.” The army, however, did not specify the number of soldiers involved in this incursion. “These targets are located in villages near the border and pose an immediate threat to Israeli communities in northern Israel,” she said.
Hello everyone. Once again, the editorial staff of 20 Minutes is working to give you all the information on the Middle East. On the ground, the government of Benjamin Netanyahu launched a new stage in its fight against Hezbollah on Monday evening. Israeli ground troops have crossed the border to fight the Islamist movement in villages in southern Lebanon, despite international calls for de-escalation.
