BEIRUT: Lebanese state media reported on Tuesday that Israeli tanks have advanced into the outskirts of the village of Khiam, their deepest ground incursion yet into south Lebanon since Israel launched its military operation in the region last month.
The official National News Agency reported the entry of “a large number of the Israeli occupation army tanks” into the eastern outskirts of Khiam, approximately six kilometres (nearly four miles) from the Israeli border. Hezbollah has a strong presence in the region.
Hezbollah said its fighters targeted Israeli troops in areas south and southwest of Khiam with rocket and artillery fire. The Lebanese group’s new leader, Naim Qassem, appointed as deputy chief on Tuesday, reaffirmed Hezbollah’s resolve to repel Israeli attempts at securing control in Lebanon.
Despite weeks of intensified fighting, Hezbollah claims Israeli forces have not fully seized any Lebanese village, maintaining resistance along the border.
Khiam is historically symbolic, as it once hosted a notorious prison operated by the South Lebanon Army, an Israeli-aligned militia, during Israel’s occupation of south Lebanon. Israeli forces occupied the area for 22 years until their withdrawal in 2000.
Earlier, Israel carried out a series of airstrikes across the Bekaa Valley overnight, marking the deadliest day in Baalbek in over a year of ongoing conflict. Lebanese Health Ministry officials reported that more than 60 people were killed and over 120 injured in the strikes, with local governor Bachir Khodor warning that the toll could rise.
Rescue workers continued to search for survivors in the rubble, while officials stated the strikes killed many civilians, including women and children, with no prior evacuation orders issued.
The ongoing exchange of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah over the past year has claimed more than 2,700 lives in Lebanon. Israeli authorities have justified the attacks as measures to weaken Hezbollah, but Lebanese officials and rights groups have condemned them as indiscriminate.
Meanwhile, international reaction has mounted against Israel’s recent decision to ban the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres criticized the ban as “unacceptable,” warning it would worsen Palestinian suffering and undermine conflict resolution efforts.
The Swiss Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Australia, and Jordan have also expressed opposition, with Jordan calling the ban “illegal and invalid.”
