Islam Times - Hellish Days for Israeli Forces on Northern Front

Islam Times - The war between Lebanese Hezbollah and Israeli regime has taken an upward trend and everyday it grows broader.

Meanwhile, the Israeli regime has passed an extremely tough weekend in its war with the Lebanese resistance movement's forces, to an extent that the Israeli media acknowledged that it suffered the highest number of casualties since the beginning of war with Hezbollah.

In this regard, the Israeli army confirmed on Friday that within 24 hours, 10 of its soldiers were killed in southern Lebanon. 5 reservists were killed Thursday by a rocket fired by Hezbollah, the Israeli military said.

Israeli media reported that Hezbollah forces came out of a tunnel and opened fire on army soldiers. In this incident, five soldiers were killed and six others were injured, three of whom are in critical condition. This area had been bombed before the arrival of the Israeli forces, but the Hezbollah forces were well sheltered and not harmed, and upon seeing the Israeli soldiers, they threw grenades at them.

Also, the Israeli army confirmed that 5 soldiers were killed in Friday's battles. In the details published by Israeli media, it is stated that Hezbollah fired a rocket barrage towards the area where the Israeli forces were operating in one of the southern Lebanon villages, and as a result of this missile attack, 5 troops from the 89th Battalion were killed and 4 were seriously injured, and suffered light injuries. The Hezbollah attack occurred when a supply convoy was transferring equipment to Israeli forces in a Lebanese border town.

Daniel Hagari, the spokesman to the Israeli army, announced on Friday that two of the forces who were killed had officer ranks and fell in a clash with Hezbollah forces. According to this statement, one of the killed officers was the deputy commander of the 89th Battalion.

On Friday, the Israeli military officially announced that 57 Israeli soldiers have been killed on this front since the beginning of ground clashes in southern Lebanon, of whom 21 soldiers have died since the beginning of the ground attack on September 30.

Casualties rising amid tight censorship

In addition to the deaths, tens of Israeli soldiers have been injured in the clashes with Hezbollah. Israeli media reported that in the twin Hezbollah attacks, 40 forces were injured and transferred to hospitals. Given the hectic flights of helicopters, the number of the injuries appears to be larger than that announced officially. Ziv hospital in Safad announced on Friday that only in 24 hours, 30 injured army personnel arrived this hospital from various parts of the north.

The situation of the occupation army on the northern front is not going well as the leaders of this regime claim. Israeli soldiers on the northern border said they are neglected and suffer from lack of protective measures and armor, reported Yediot Aharonot. Soldiers on the northern border announced that the government ignored their warnings and as a result of this negligence, a number of them were killed and wounded by Hezbollah rockets.

The death and injury of dozens of soldiers was such a surprise to the leaders of Tel Aviv that defense minister Yoav Gallant expressed his condolences on X, saying: "These are difficult moments and we must remain united at this moment."

The death of 10 Israeli soldiers and dozens of wounded in less than 24 hours has been the biggest blow to this regime since the beginning of the conflict with Hezbollah. The numbers and figures announced by the army are subject to questioning in terms of veracity, because the army has deliberately hidden its losses since the beginning of the war since it has announced the casualties in smaller numbers and it seems that this time, too, the number is way higher that the announced one.

This extent of casualties comes at a time Hezbollah, contrary to Israel, avoids bombing residential areas and cities and only strikes the military infrastructure of the enemy in its missile and drone barrages.

Israel's north under Hezbollah's missile rain

In the new wave of Hezbollah's military operations, the occupied territories, especially the northern regions, were targeted with hundreds of missiles and drones, with the regime's various defense systems having failed to repel these attacks.

Israel Army Radio announced on Friday that 130 rockets were fired from Lebanon towards Israel in the last 24 hours. Yediot Ahronoth newspaper also reported that 23 firefighting teams are trying to contain the fire in Kokhav Ya'ir Tzur Yigal settlement.

Israeli sources reported that at least 12 residential units were damaged in the northern region. Israel's internal front also announced that sirens sounded in Al-Manara and Margaliot settlements in Galilee. The Israeli army confirmed that 30 rockets were fired towards Al-Jalil.

On Friday, Hezbollah confirmed the bombing of the Carmel base south of Haifa with "a special missile." The Lebanese resistance also carried out missile attacks on the location of the occupation forces in the triangle of Udaisah-Rab Thalathin-Al Taiba.

Hezbollah announced that in the new round of the attacks, it struck Camel in southern Haifa and Nashrim military base in east of the city with "advanced missiles."

Hezbollah also announced that on Friday it targeted the Israeli forces in the north of Kfar Giladi in northern occupied territories with a missile attack. The occupying forces around the Marj base were also targeted by resistance forces.

The Israeli Army Radio announced that 20 people were wounded in a rocket attack on Majd Al-Karoom, with condition of 3 reported critical.

Hezbollah also announced that it targeted the Al-Baghdadi military site with a series of attack drones, accurately hitting the intended targets. Israeli media announced that in Hezbollah's attack on northern occupied Palestine, a missile directly hit a building in the town of Shumra, during which a number of soldiers were injured.

Furthermore, on Friday, Hezbollah struck a Merkava tank near Mesgav Am military base, killing or injuring all of its crew.

In another operation, the Lebanese resistance movement targeted a Merkava tank in the city of Markaba, killing and injuring its crew members. In the third operation, Hezbollah targeted an Israeli tank and a group of Israeli soldiers around the village of Houla in southern Lebanon.

It is noteworthy that since the start of Israeli war on Lebanon, Hezbollah forces have made massive success targeting advanced Merkava tanks, hampering ground advancement of the occupation forces.

Hezbollah even more resolute after assassination of its leaders and commanders

The massive attacks of Thursday and Friday that were the biggest in a year came a day after announcement of martyrdom of the head of Hezbollah Executive Council Sayyed Hashem Safieddine, showing that the assassination of leaders and commanders cannot disrupt Hezbollah's defense and operations. Rather, it will solidify its resolvy against Tel Aviv.

This show of firm resolve and resilience by Hezbollah comes as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thought that with assassination of Hezbollah's heads, he can restore security to occupied territories. However, these actions delivered the reverse, spreading insecurity across the occupied territories.

Netanyahu's government seeks a buffer zone with Lebanon to push Hezbollah back to north of the Litani River on the border and to bring the displaced Israeli settlers back home in the north. But as the war with Hezbollah unfolds, the number of displaced Israelis grows higher.