Lebanon’s Hezbollah has claimed to have thwarted an Israeli ground incursion of southern Lebanon on Wednesday.
The clash would mark the first direct confrontation between the two foes since Tel Aviv launched what it calls “limited ground operations” into Lebanon on Tuesday.
Hezbollah confronted “an Israeli enemy infantry force that tried to infiltrate into the village of Odaisseh … and clashed with them,” a statement said.
The Iran-backed group added that it inflicted losses on the Israeli troops and forced them to retreat.
It also claimed to have targeted a gathering of Israeli soldiers in the settlement of Shtula and artillery bunkers in the south of the Kiryat Shmona settlement with rockets.
Separately, Hezbollah said it attacked an infantry force in the settlement of Misgav Am with rockets and artillery.
In another statement, it said it attacked a group of Israeli soldiers in the Shomera Barracks with a salvo of rockets.
Meanwhile, the Israeli army on Wednesday demanded the residents in 24 towns and villages in southern Lebanon to immediately leave their homes, claiming that Hezbollah fighters and weapons were present in the area.
Since Sept. 23, Israel has launched massive airstrikes against what it calls Hezbollah targets across Lebanon, killing more than 1,073 people and injuring over 2,950 others, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.
The top leadership of Hezbollah was killed in the Israeli assaults, including its leader Hassan Nasrallah.
Hezbollah and Israel have been engaged in cross-border warfare since the start of Israel’s genocidal Gaza war, which was triggered by the Oct. 7 Hamas incursion.
Israel has killed more than 41,600 Palestinians, mostly women and children, in Gaza since.
The international community has warned that Israeli attacks in Lebanon could escalate the Gaza conflict into a wider regional war.
