A member of Israeli security forces inspects a site where a rocket launched from Lebanon fell in the northern city of Kiryat Shmona near the border on October 19, 2023, as border tensions between Israel on one side and Hezbollah and allied Palestinian factions on the other intensify over Israel’s war with Hamas.
- Israel has ordered the evacuation of Kiryat Shmona, a city
near the Lebanon border, due to clashes with Hezbollah. - The fighting has been ongoing since Hamas attacked southern Israel on
7 October. - The IDF have been targeting Hezbollah infrastructure and
outposts.
The
Israeli army announced plans to evacuate the northern city of Kiryat Shmona on
Friday, after days of clashes with Hezbollah fighters along the border with
Lebanon.
“A
short while ago, the Northern Command informed the mayor of the city of the
decision. The plan will be managed by the local authority, the Ministry of
Tourism and the Ministry of Defence,” the military said in a statement.
Lebanon’s
Iran-backed Hezbollah and allied Palestinian factions have traded cross-border
fire with Israel for days, after Hamas gunmen attacked communities in southern
Israel on 7 October, killing at least 1 400 people, most of them civilians,
according to Israeli officials.
More
than 3 700 Palestinians, mainly civilians, have been killed across the Gaza
Strip in retaliatory Israeli bombardments, according to figures from its
Hamas-run health ministry.
Israel’s
military said its forces continued to target Hezbollah targets as tensions grew
along the border.
FOLLOW IT LIVE | DEVELOPING: Besieged Palestinians await aid trucks as Israel pounds Gaza
“The
IDF (Israel Defense Forces) carried out a number of attacks against Hezbollah
infrastructure, including observation posts,” the army said early Friday.
“In
addition, IDF fighter jets struck three terrorists who attempted to launch
anti-tank missiles toward Israel.”
Israeli
authorities have been steadily evacuating communities across the northern
frontier, as reservists and columns of tanks and armoured vehicles poured into
the area.
The
Shiite Muslim Hezbollah movement, Lebanon’s only armed faction that did not
disarm after the 1975-1990 civil war, last fought a major conflict with Israel
in 2006.
That
war left more than 1 200 dead in Lebanon, mostly civilians, and 160 in Israel,
mostly soldiers, in a conflict that left deep scars and the border bristling
with guns.