Israel's latest offensive on the Lebanese capital Beirut has cut off a vital border with Syria, prompting tens of thousands of people to flee the escalating conflict between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah.
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said The overnight attack early Friday morning was a military effort to stop the smuggling of weapons into Lebanese territory, in which International Air Force fighter jets under the command of the Israel Defense Forces Intelligence Directorate attacked underground tunnels entering Syria from the Lebanese border. ”.
The Israel Defense Forces said the targeted tunnels allowed Lebanese militants to transfer and store “large quantities of weapons underground.” Israel also claims to have killed 100 Hezbollah fighters in the past 24 hours, the Associated Press reported.
The attack along the Lebanese-Syrian border has closed a road near the Masna border crossing, the Associated Press said.
The Israeli military also announced on Friday that it had killed Mohamed Ja'afar Katsir, the commander of the 4400th Unit.
The attack was condemned by the Syrian Foreign Ministry and came as Israel launched a limited ground invasion into Lebanon earlier this week. The operation followed heavy airstrikes in the area.
These airstrikes, which killed more than 1,000 people, including Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and other government officials, and recent deadly attacks on pagers and handheld radios in Lebanon, have sparked a broader war. There are growing concerns that this is inevitable.
Hezbollah and Israel have been clashing on the Lebanese border since the militant group backed Palestinian militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip as the war in Gaza marks its first anniversary. Hamas and Hezbollah are both designated terrorist organizations by the United States and have operated on behalf of Tehran.
Iran fired a series of ballistic missiles toward Israel on Tuesday, in what U.S. officials viewed as a “serious escalation.” Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei gave an unusual speech on Friday, defending his country's attack on Israel, calling it “correct, logical and legal.”
The latest attack in Beirut also comes after eight Israeli soldiers were killed in southern Lebanon earlier this week.
