Israel is “destroying” Lebanese Hezbollah positions “in all the villages along the border” between the two countries, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallad said today.

During a visit to northern Israel, where the army is carrying out operations against the pro-Iranian group in the neighboring country, Gallant told soldiers he was moving from a phase of fighting militants in surrounding villages to a “state of destruction”, blowing up tunnels and warehouses ammunition and destroying other Hezbollah infrastructure.

As reported by The Times of Israel, the Israeli minister said that Hezbollah officials arrested and interrogated by Israel are “terrorists” and that the Iranian-backed organization “has collapsed.”

“Not only right now we are fighting the enemy, but we are destroying them in all the villages along the border, positions that Hezbollah wanted to use as bases for attacks against Israel,” he said.

“The result is that every place Hezbollah was preparing to raid [ισραηλινές] border towns, there are IDF soldiers” he added – as reported by The Times of Israel – and added:

“Our goal is to completely clear this area so residents can return to their homes and their lives.”

Gallant said the Israel Defense Forces were still “completing the mission” in Lebanon and that the army was “preparing for follow-on missions.”

It is noted that in a short time (at 7:30 p.m.) Israel’s security cabinet will meet at the headquarters of the Israeli army in Tel Aviv.

Lebanon: 14 Israeli strikes in 15 minutes in border village

Lebanon’s official Ani news agency reported that the Israeli air force today carried out “14 consecutive strikes” in a 15-minute period in various sectors of the village of Kiam in southern Lebanon.

Since September 23, Israel has been carrying out a major bombing campaign in Lebanese territory, particularly against pro-Iranian Hezbollah strongholds in the south and east of the country, as well as in the southern suburbs of the capital Beirut.

The Israeli army has also been conducting ground raids against the Islamist group in the southern part of the country since September 30.

The Israeli army bombed Hezbollah headquarters buildings early in the morning, neutralizing, as it announced, 3 high-ranking officials.

“The Air Force (IAF) conducted a strike based on information in intelligence headquarters command center of Hezbollah and in an underground weapons laboratory in Beirut,” the IDF reports.

According to the Lebanese news agency ANI, the districts of Haret Hreik and Hadat Beirut, strongholds of the pro-Iranian Islamist Lebanese movement, were hit.

ANI reported that “enemy planes carried out two strikes in the southern suburbs of Beirut this morning, one of which hit an apartment building in Haret Hareik, which is near a mosque and a hospital.”

According to Israel, by the company three top officials were eliminated of Hezbollah.

Good morning from Beirut Lebanon pic.twitter.com/OCblHqBQEX

— Mossad Commentary (@MOSSADil) October 20, 2024

“IAF eliminated the terrorist Al-Haj Abbas Salama in the area of ​​Tebnine, senior commander on Hezbollah’s Southern Front. Salama oversaw the fighting in the Bint Jbeil region and carried out many terrorist attacks against the State of Israel. In addition, Salama served in various positions in Hezbollah’s Southern Front over the years.

In addition, terrorists Rada Abbas Awada and Ahmad Ali Hussein were killed.

Awada was senior communications expert of Hezbollah and Hussein served as head of a weapons manufacturing unit who was responsible for the creation of Hezbollah’s strategic weapon, after in-depth manufacturing training in Iran,” the statement said.

Hezbollah responded with a “barrage of rockets”.

For its part, Hezbollah launched a rocket attack against a military base in northern Israel.

Her fighters Hezbollah launched a “significant barrage of rockets” against this base east of Safed, “in response to the Israeli enemy’s attacks against villages and homes” in Lebanon, the pro-Iranian group said.

This is the seventh time that Hezbollah has confirmed that it targeted Safed and its surroundings in the space of 2 days.

Lebanon’s Hezbollah also said it targeted Israeli troops today in two villages in southern Lebanon, on the border with Israel, which has been conducting ground raids since September 30.

In two separate statements, the pro-Iranian Islamist group, which fires daily rockets at northern Israel, said its fighters targeted Israeli soldiers with “rocket barrages” in two villages in the same border sector.

Lebanese army: 3 soldiers killed by Israeli fire

The Lebanese army announced today that three of its soldiers were killed by Israeli fire on one of their vehicles in the southern part of the country, where the Israeli army is conducting raids against the pro-Iranian Hezbollah.

“The Israeli enemy targeted a military vehicle on the road between Ein Ebel and Hanin in the south, resulting in three deaths,” the army said in a press release posted on X.

These losses bring to 8 the number of Lebanese soldiers killed since Israel’s intensification of bombings against Lebanon began on September 23