Hezbollah fights Israeli soldiers as they try to enter Nabi Sheet, border towns
Hezbollah said early on Monday it was fighting Israeli forces who landed in eastern Lebanon by helicopter across the Syrian border, the second such operation since the outbreak of the latest conflict with Israel.
During the day, the group claimed responsibility for at least 10 attacks against Israel and its forces, including against troops that advanced into Lebanese border towns and a missile salvo on an air base in Haifa.
Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war last week when Hezbollah attacked Israel in response to the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during U.S.-Israeli strikes.
Israel, which has kept up strikes targeting Hezbollah despite a 2024 ceasefire, launched multiple waves of strikes last week across Lebanon and sent ground troops into border areas.
In a statement on Monday, Hezbollah said it detected "the infiltration of approximately 15 Israeli enemy helicopters" from the Syrian side of the border in eastern Lebanon, an area where Hezbollah holds sway.
The group said its fighters "engaged the helicopters and the infiltrating force with appropriate weapons, and the confrontation" was ongoing.
Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA) earlier reported "fierce clashes... towards the outskirts of the town of Nabi Sheet to repel Israeli forces that carried out a landing by helicopters" in the area.
Two Hezbollah officials in the Bekaa region, where Nabi Sheet is located, told AFP that an Israeli helicopter was downed.
The Israeli army did not immediately comment on the incident.
It is the second such attack after an Israeli commando operation in Nabi Sheet and its surrounding areas overnight Friday failed to find the remains of Ron Arad, an airman missing since 1986, killing 41 people.
- Beirut strikes -
In Beirut's southern suburbs, an AFP correspondent said a loud explosion was heard on Monday, with smoke seen rising from the area.
A brief statement from the Israeli military said it had "struck infrastructure belonging to Hezbollah".
The area was pounded by Israel over the past week but had not suffered any strikes since Saturday.
The military had told residents of the Beirut suburbs as well as Lebanon's south to evacuate.
The NNA reported several strikes early Monday, including one on the town of Tayr Debba near the southern city of Tyre, which "resulted in an initial toll of three citizens martyred and 15 others wounded".
- Border clashes -
Closer to the Israeli border, Hezbollah said it targeted Israeli soldiers entering the towns of Odaisseh and Aitaroun with artillery shells.
It also said it clashed with Israeli soldiers in Odaisseh.
Later during the day, Hezbollah targeted Israeli troops who tried to enter the southern border towns of Rob Tlatine and Markaba.
Health minister Rakan Nassereddine said on Sunday that Israeli strikes on Lebanon had killed 394 people over the past week, including 83 children and 42 women.
Israel's military said that two of its soldiers were killed in combat in southern Lebanon, the first fatalities among its forces since the latest offensive began on March 2.
On Monday, at least 20 people were killed in strikes on south Lebanon and Beirut's southern suburbs.