TENSIONS RISE OF ISRAELI INVASION FOUR IDF SOLDIERS INJURED AFTER INFILTRATING LEBANON
April 16, 2024Sky News special correspondent Alex Crawford reports from Beirut on the four Israeli soldiers, who were injured in an explosion inside Lebanon yesterday, after they had illegally infiltrated Lebanon’s southern border with the Zionist state.
Hezbollah claimed responsibility for the attack. The Israeli military said the incident took place during “operational activity” carried out by troops of the Golani Brigade’s reconnaissance unit and the elite Yahalom combat engineering unit, on the Lebanese side of the border, several hundred meters from Israel’s border.
One soldier was seriously wounded, two were listed in moderate condition, and another was lightly hurt, according to the IDF. The troops were taken by helicopter from Lebanese territory to a hospital in Israel.
The attack comes amid ongoing hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah over the war in Gaza between Hamas and the Zionist state and once again raised the spectre of a broader conflict spreading erupting in the Middle East following threats for months by Israel that it is readying to invade Lebanon.
Lebanese military sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Israel on Monday carried out nine successive airstrikes on six border towns and villages and fired 40 shells at 10 towns and villages in southern Lebanon.
One of the airstrikes targeted a residential neighborhood in the town of Siddiqine, injuring nine civilians and destroying six homes. The airstrikes also wrecked an agricultural project in the southeastern village of Kfarchouba.
The Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants yesterday urged for a cessation of escalation in the region, calling on all parties to respect international resolutions to prevent further destabilization in the Middle East.
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English Script:
Yalda Hakim: Our special correspondent, Alex Crawford is in the Lebanese capital, Beirut. Alex, really good to see you. We’ve been talking a lot about the attacks by Iran against Israel, but of course, we’ve also seen some skirmishes and four Israeli soldiers attacked on the Lebanese border. Just give us an update on that.
Alex Crawford: Well, this is interesting Yalda, because this is the first time that’s been publicly acknowledged by both Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group, and the Israeli Defense Force, the IDF, that Israeli soldiers have made their way inside their neighboring sovereign country, the country of Lebanon. The four Israeli soldiers were apparently on some sort of military maneuvers. They made their way through several hundred meters inside Lebanon. They, according to Hezbollah, were spotted and they waited until these soldiers reached buried explosive devices and when they reached them, Hezbollah claimed that they then detonated them. Four of them were injured, one of them apparently seriously. What we don’t know is why the IDF, why the Israeli soldiers were inside Lebanon. Were they the only four that were inside Lebanon? What was their mission? What were they doing there? And have they been doing this all along the last six months or so? Certainly, the indications are that this is probably not the first time that Israeli soldiers have made their way inside Lebanon. As you know, there have been almost daily exchanges of fire, sometimes more than once a day between Lebanon and Israel across the border. Israeli drones have definitely breached Lebanese airspace on a regular basis, including Israeli jets flying over Lebanon. We understand from Lebanese security forces that only last week, a Lebanese man, a Hezbollah supporter, a man who was under U.S. sanctions list for funneling money to Hamas, was found shot dead with a pile of money on him in the mountains in Lebanon. It was put down to a hit job by the Israeli intelligence service, Mossad. So certainly the Lebanese authorities believe that there have been previous breaches of their sovereign state inside Lebanon. But this is the first acknowledgment by both sides.
Yalda Hakim: Yeah and as you say, Alex, I mean, frankly, for the last six months, there has been low level war between Israel and Hezbollah, something that the Israeli authorities have continued to express angst about and frustration with the United States saying we need this issue resolved.
Alex Crawford: There have been a lot of exchanges of fire between Lebanon, Hezbollah positions on the border and Israeli positions in Israel. There’s been a serious displacement on both sides with something like 90,000 Lebanese who have had to move out of their areas, their towns and villages on the border. 60,000 or so on the Israeli side. Obviously, a great deal of fear and terror amongst the communities on both sides with these almost daily incursions which appear to be getting deeper inside each other’s territory and becoming stronger and more serious. And the fear is that this will escalate into a much, much more serious repercussions of this war between both sides. And when the question is being asked is how is Israel going to retaliate? Are they going to hit Iran or are they going to hit their main, their particular proxies? While Hezbollah is their strongest and their main proxy in Lebanon and they would be one of the most serious targets, it would seem, from Israel if they were to take retaliatory action.
Yalda Hakim: Alex, thank you, as always, for all of your coverage. Alex Crawford, our special correspondent, live there from Beirut.
