File Photo: Fighters from the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah carry out a training exercise in Aaramta village in the Jezzine District, southern Lebanon. AP
Much of the fighting was concentrated around the strategic hilltop city of Khiyam, with the Israeli occupation army carrying out an air and artillery campaign against Hezbollah fighters dug into the city, according to the report.
Fighting escalated there after days of clashes, with a Hezbollah spokesperson acknowledging there were “heightened clashes” on the eastern and northern outskirts of the city.
As fighting continued in Khiyam, Israeli troops attempted to push into border towns in the central and western sectors of South Lebanon.
A resident of the Aita al-Chaab border village told the British news outlet that fighting was intense between Israeli soldiers and Hezbollah fighters there, according to the Guardian report.
A Lebanese security source added that the village was one of several border towns that were the site of heavy fighting as Israel tried to infiltrate southern Lebanon through several points along the shared border. There, they had been met with resistance by members of Hezbollah.
The fighting came as the Israeli occupation army amassed troops along the border, bringing four brigades and columns of tanks ahead of an expanded ground invasion of South Lebanon.
The occupation army said that it had already started a “limited ground operation,” as the political echelon discussed expanding the campaign.
In tandem, Israeli airstrikes on Beirut and the rest of the country have killed nearly 1,000 and wounded nearly 3,000 others since 2 March.
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