DUBAI, October 18. /TASS/. Lebanon’s Shia group Hezbollah has announced a new phase in its confrontation with Israel, according to the movement's statement on its Telegram channel.
The group, following the orders of the resistance command, "entered a new and escalating stage of confrontation with the Israeli enemy, which will become clear in the coming days," the statement said.
Earlier, the movement said in its communique that its fighters had killed at least 55 Israeli soldiers and officers and injured more than 500 others in fighting in Lebanon since the beginning of October, destroying 20 Merkava tanks, several armored vehicles and armored personnel carriers, and shooting down two Hermez 450 drones. The communique also said that "several hundred resistance fighters are ready to repel a large-scale invasion by enemy forces."
On September 23, Israel launched Operation Northern Arrows against Hezbollah units in Lebanon, during which it is carrying out massive airstrikes against the movement’s military facilities. The stated goal is to create secure conditions in Israel’s northern border areas so that tens of thousands of residents can return there. As a result of one of the strikes, Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah was eliminated in Beirut on September 27. The organization confirmed his death and vowed to continue its confrontation with Israel. In the early morning hours of October 1, the Israeli army announced the start of a ground operation in the border areas in southern Lebanon.