BEIRUT, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- Hezbollah said Sunday that it clashed with Israeli forces in three border villages in southern Lebanon.
In separate statements, the group said it had killed and wounded several members of an Israeli infantry force attempting to infiltrate the Canaan Heights in the village of Blida and remained engaged in clashes with another Israeli infantry force trying to infiltrate the village of Qaouzah.
Hezbollah added that it was also involved in "violent" clashes with Israeli forces in "the western neighborhood of Aita al-Shaab," a village located in the central sector of the border area.
Additionally, Hezbollah stated that on Sunday morning, the Israeli army "bombed the area between the municipality of Hanine and the town of al-Tayri with rockets loaded with internationally banned cluster bombs."
Meanwhile, Lebanese military sources told Xinhua that an Israeli 155 mm artillery shell landed on Sunday afternoon near a Lebanese army armored vehicle patrolling the main road between the towns of Marjeyoun and Burj al-Muluk in southeastern Lebanon, wounding three soldiers and causing minor damage to the vehicle.
The wounded soldiers were transported by a Lebanese army ambulance to a hospital for treatment, the sources said.
According to the sources, Israeli warplanes and drones conducted 41 airstrikes on southern Lebanon and 16 on eastern Lebanon on Sunday, while Israeli artillery fired approximately 150 shells at 29 border towns and villages in southern Lebanon.
"Lebanese army sites monitored the launch of about 50 surface-to-surface missiles from Lebanon into northern Israel this afternoon," the sources added.
During a tour of the border area on Sunday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant vowed to prevent Hezbollah from reestablishing a foothold there. He also described nearby Lebanese villages as military targets, stating that Israeli forces had uncovered weapons caches.
"The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) is currently destroying these weapons both above and below ground," Gallant said.
Since early October, the Israeli military has conducted targeted ground operations against Hezbollah positions near the Lebanese border while intensifying airstrikes and artillery bombardments across Lebanon, particularly in the southern suburbs of Beirut, a Hezbollah stronghold. ■
