Hezbollah enters new phase in war as Netanyahu insists on dismantling its structure

BEIRUT: Hezbollah confirmed that it has “no option in Lebanon except for the realities imposed by its members in the field, and anything else is betting on an illusion.”

MP Hassan Fadlallah, a member of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc, said in a press conference that “Israel’s war on Hezbollah aims to eliminate the resistance, wipe it out from the region, and subjugate Lebanon.”

He said that the enemy “has been planning this war for years and has adopted a scorched-earth policy along the borders, attempting to create a buffer zone to annex the area south of the Litani, which the resistance will thwart.”

Fadlallah said that the party “has entered a new phase of resisting aggression. We are operating on three fronts, the first being in the field, and so far, the enemy has not managed to take control of or settle in any village. Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Najib Mikati are negotiating with international envoys to reach a ceasefire, and we are closely following this matter with Berri.”

Fadlallah refused to confirm or deny reports circulating in the south about Hezbollah capturing Israeli soldiers. He simply said: “If any Israeli soldier is captured, the resistance will announce it through its statements.”

On Thursday, the sounds of airstrikes and artillery fire drowned out any diplomatic talk paving the way for a ceasefire.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu renewed his escalatory stance, stating Israel’s intent to “destroy all of Hezbollah’s military structure, which has been built over two decades,” and that his goal “in Lebanon is to return the northern residents to their homes and dismantle Hezbollah’s military structure.”

A German Ministry of Defense spokesperson on Thursday told Reuters that “a German warship that operates as part of UNIFIL’s peacekeeping mission intercepted a drone off the Lebanese coast.”

He said that the drone “fell into the water,” and caused no damage to the ship.

The spokesperson said that “the origin of the drone brought down by the air defense system is unknown,” adding that “the warship, known as Ludwigshafen am Rhein and deployed as part of the UN’s peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, is continuing its duties.”

Several UNIFIL positions, as well as the headquarters’ watchtower, were subject to Israeli hostilities, in which several peacekeepers were injured.

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The goal of the attacks was to make UNIFIL peacekeepers evacuate their positions in the Lebanese border area and relocate 5 km north. However, the UN strongly rejected the matter and condemned the attacks.

UNIFIL peacekeepers at a position near Kafer Kela on Wednesday observed “an Israeli Merkava tank firing at their watchtower, destroying two cameras and damaging the tower.”

In an official statement, UNIFIL said: “Yet again we see direct and apparently deliberate fire on a UNIFIL position.”

Meanwhile, evacuation threats were sent on Thursday to Lebanese in diplomatic, media and residential buildings in Beirut, Bekaa and the south.

The evacuation warning messages were received by workers in a Beirut building housing offices of the Al-Jazeera news network and the Norwegian Embassy, the Markazia Suites hotel, and buildings in the vicinity of Starco Center, which includes ministries and company offices.

Evacuation warnings were also sent to workers in the main Hamra street next to the American University of Beirut’s campus, including the Commodore Hotel, where foreign journalists usually stay.

A judge at the court of audit received a similar message.

After the army’s investigation of the source of the warnings, it appeared that the calls received on people’s phones were “fake,” according to a security source.

The source considered that “all are rumors other than the warnings issued by the spokesperson for the Israeli army, Avichay Adraee, on his social media account, which include maps specifying the targets, remain inaccurate, especially the phone calls received by citizens, officials, mayors, judges, embassies and media offices.”

On Thursday, Adraee issued a series of urgent warnings to residents in northern Bekaa to evacuate before attacking the targeted areas less than an hour later with airstrikes.

Adraee’s warnings included areas in the south, especially the Tyre region.

Israeli airstrikes continued in the border area, particularly in the areas of Tyre, Nabatiyeh, Iqlim Al-Tuffah and Jezzine, reaching the eastern sector with the shelling of Shebaa. The airstrikes focused on the northern Bekaa region, up to the border with Syria.

In a series of statements, Hezbollah said it had repelled Israeli forces in Labbouneh Heights and the Kfarkela and Odaisseh axes.

Adraee claimed that “a Hezbollah battalion commander, Hussein Mohammed Awada, was eliminated in the Bint Jbeil area and that he was responsible for launching shells toward Israeli territory.”

Hezbollah enters new phase in war as Netanyahu insists on dismantling its structure