For the last two days, Israeli forces have been conducting preliminary operations as part of their planned ground invasion of Lebanon. While Israeli army spokesperson, Avichay Adraee has claimed that the ground invasion has begun on Tuesday, Hezbollah refuted such claims, saying that the Israeli army did not cross the border.
Today, confrontations took place across several Southern areas, including the town of Odaisseh and the village of Maroun al-Rass.
The Lebanese Army stated that Israeli forces breached the Blue Line with a distance of around 400 meters inside Lebanese territories in the areas of Khirbet Yaroun and Bawwabat al-Odaisseh, then retreated shortly after after violent confrontations with Hezbollah.
Confrontations at Odaisseh
Today, Wednesday, Hezbollah announced that its fighters confronted Israeli infantry forces trying to infiltrate Lebanese territory through the town of Odaisseh from the direction of Khallet al-Mahafer.
Hezbollah had apparently set up a trap for Israeli forces there and pinned them down. Early reports suggest that eight members of the Israeli army were killed, including one in the rank of captain, and 32 others were injured, with some in a critical condition.
Hezbollah confirmed that it inflicted losses on the unit and forced it to retreat, and Israeli media said that soldiers were transferred to hospitals in Haifa and Safed after shelling and fire exchanges near the border.
Confrontations at Maroun el-Rass
Later during the day, Hezbollah announced that it confronted Israeli soldiers trying to infiltrate Lebanese territory from Maroun el-Rass in the Bint Jbeil district, claiming that it inflicted injuries on the forces.
Early reports suggest that the Maroun el-Rass trap led to the killing of two members of the Israeli army, and the injury of 35 others, with some in a critical condition.
This brings the total of both confrontations to 10 deaths and 67 injuries according to initial reports, with the Israeli army confirming 8 of those deaths. Furthermore, the launching of 120 rockets and 20 drones have been reported from Lebanon.
Threats to Entire Villages in the South
On Tuesday, Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee issued threats to the residents of 28 southern cities and towns, urging them to evacuate their homes and head north of the Awali River at the northern entrance of Saida. This comes after warnings for residents of the South to move north of the Litani river.
Then, today, Adraee added 19 towns and regions of South Lebanon to the evacuation lists today, reiterating his call to residents to head north of the Awali River.
This comes as part of a series of evacuation orders from Adraee throughout the last several days that concern areas across Lebanon.
Many of those calls were focused on Beirut’s Southern Suburbs. The calls often took place after midnight at Adraee’s X profile, at a time when many residents could be sleeping and thus unaware of the calls.
Similarly to Gaza, Israel has been issuing unrealistic evacuation orders to residents in Lebanon, giving them little to no time to evacuate, or hasn’t been issuing evacuation orders at all. This represents a continuation of Israeli forces’ disregard to civilian lives and breaching of international humanitarian law.