Hezbollah says thwarts Israel bid to advance on southern border

Hezbollah said it fought off a bid by the Israeli army to advance at a border point in southern Lebanon on Thursday.

Hezbollah "repelled with artillery fire an attempt by enemy Israeli forces to advance at Fatima's Gate", it said, a day after Israel said eight of its soldiers had been killed in south Lebanon.

Hezbollah later said it denotated two explosives against an infantry Israeli unit as it tried to enter Lebanon from the southern border village of Maroun al-Ras.

The group at dawn detonated the "explosive devices" as "an enemy Israeli infantry force carried out an infiltration attempt towards the town of Maroun al-Ras" in Lebanon near the border, Hezbollah said.

A day after its military said it was conducting "targeted ground raids" in south Lebanon, Israel reported Wednesday the first death of a soldier in the Israel-Hezbollah war, a toll that later rose to eight dead.

Hezbollah said Wednesday it forced Israeli soldiers to retreat, targeted an Israeli unit with explosives, and destroyed three Merkava tanks with rockets as they advanced on Maroun al-Ras village.

The Israeli military said it staged two brief incursions into Lebanon, ordering residents to flee more than 20 areas.

The military released footage that it said showed soldiers inside Lebanon, moving through villages and mountainous areas on foot, and announced it had deployed a second division to support the fighting.

- Evacuation orders -

The Israeli military on Thursday told residents of 25 southern villages and towns including Nabatiyeh, a provincial capital, to evacuate, the latest in a series of calls to relocate issued by the army as it clashes with Hezbollah.

"The IDF (Israeli army) does not intend to harm you, and for your own safety, you must evacuate your homes immediately and head north of the Awali River. Save your lives," said army spokesman Avichay Adraee on X.

These villages and the town of Nabatieh are north of the Litani River, which formed the northern edge of the border zone established by the U.N. Security Council after the 2006 war.

- Iran missile attack -

Hours after Israel announced the start of ground operations in Lebanon, Iran fired some 200 missiles including hypersonic weapons, sending frightened Israeli civilians into shelters.

Israel said it intercepted most of them. Two people were wounded by shrapnel and a school building was damaged.

The Israeli military said several Iranian missiles struck inside air force bases without causing any casualties or damage.

In Jericho in the occupied West Bank, a Palestinian was killed when "pieces of a rocket fell from the sky and hit him", the city's governor Hussein Hamayel said.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant warned that "those who attack the state of Israel, pay a heavy price."

President Joe Biden said the U.S. was "fully supportive" of Israel, but ruled out supporting its ally with a strike on Iran's nuclear sites.

Iran's armed forces chief of staff, Major General Mohammad Bagheri, threatened to fire "with bigger intensity" if Israel makes good on its pledge to retaliate.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian also warned of a "stronger" response, though he stressed Iran was "not looking for war".

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said the missiles were fired in retaliation for Nasrallah's killing alongside its Quds Force commander Abbas Nilforoushan, as well as Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in a Tehran bombing in July.

- Global alarm -

In Israel's commercial hub Tel Aviv, resident Liron Yori said he felt "very, very disappointed".

"I see where the war's going and I don't feel comfortable with it," the 22-year-old told AFP.

In central Beirut, people were weary and afraid, but some were defiant.

Youssef Amir, displaced from southern Lebanon, said: "I have lost my home and relatives in this war, but all of that is a sacrifice for Lebanon".

Iran's missile attack, its second on Israel in six months, triggered widespread global alarm, as well as a spike in world oil prices.

U.N. chief Antonio Guterres condemned the Iranian attack on Israel, saying they "do nothing to support the cause of the Palestinian people".

The G7 group of rich nations vowed to work together to reduce tensions in the region and said a diplomatic solution was "still possible".

Hezbollah began low-intensity strikes on Israeli troops a day after Hamas staged its October 7 attack on Israel which triggered the Israeli war on Gaza.

Israel's retaliatory military offensive has killed at least 41,689 people in Gaza, the majority of them civilians.