Strong resistance from Hezbollah fighters is being faced by the Israeli army which has been trying for the last 24 hours to clear the Lebanese lands near the borders of the two countries. The operation does not appear to have anything to do with its counterpart in the Gaza Strip, as Israeli soldiers have already been killed in hand-to-hand fighting in Lebanese villages, while anti-tank rockets have destroyed Israeli tanks.
MEGA with journalist Marinos Aliferis and cameraman Theodoris Romaneas captured images of the fierce battles between the two sides. According to the report, the advance of the Israelis is not what was expected, as despite the pounding of both the artillery and the air force, Hezbollah was prepared, it has fortified itself in defensive positions. The topography of the area proved to be a crucial element for the development of the battles, as the mountainous massifs and rocky terrain did not help the advance of Israel’s armored vehicles.
Israel’s military said today it had killed 250 Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanon since Monday’s ground offensive in the neighboring country’s south against the Iran-backed Islamist movement. A total of “250 Hezbollah terrorists including 21 fighters were killed in four days of operations in southern Lebanon,” the army said in a statement.
⭕️ Over the last 4 days, the IDF has eliminated 2,000+ military targets and 250 Hezbollah terrorists. Among them:
– 5 battalion commanders
– 10 company commanders
– 6 platoon commandersThe Israeli Air Force is also conducting preemptive strikes during these… pic.twitter.com/VLvcuefOTX
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 4, 2024
Khamenei’s new threats against Israel
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, carrying a rifle at his feet, said today that his country’s attack of dozens of ballistic missiles against Israel was “completely legal” and added that Tehran’s allies – notably Hamas and Hezbollah—”will not back down” before Israel.
Khamenei made the remarks in a sermon from Tehran’s Grand Mosque before thousands of people, three days before the first anniversary of the October 7, 2023, attack by Palestinian Hamas on Israel that triggered the war in the Gaza Strip. .
“The operation of our armed forces a few days ago was completely legal,” he said, referring to Iran’s attack on Tuesday by firing dozens of missiles at Israel in retaliation for the killing of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah and one of its commanders, Abbas. Nilforusan, in an Israeli strike against Beirut on September 27.
The operation was also aimed at avenging the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on July 31 in Tehran in an attack attributed to Israel.
This was “the smallest” response that Tehran could give to Israel, Khamenei estimated, while adding that Iran “will not delay or rush to do its duty” towards Israel.
Ayatollah Khamenei, who spoke in Farsi and Arabic, stressed that the policy adopted by “the enemy” is aimed at “causing discord and mutiny, creating a divide among Muslims”, however he stressed that “our enemy is common”. He also called on the Muslim countries to prepare “their defense against the common enemy”.
At the same time, he noted that the attack by Hamas against Israel on October 7 was “reasonable and legal”, underlining that “every country, every people has the absolute right to defend itself against absolute tyranny”.
“The Palestinian people have the legal right to defend themselves. To resist these criminals – the occupying power,” he added.
According to the ayatollah, Hezbollah’s battle, which since October 2023 has been firing rockets and missiles at northern Israel in solidarity with the Palestinians, provides a “vital service to the entire region.”
Israel “cannot seriously harm” the Shiite Lebanese movement, many of whose officials have been killed in recent days in Israeli army operations, Khamenei stressed.
“Hezbollah, defending Gaza and attacking the usurping and tyrannical regime, provided (…) a vital service throughout the region and throughout the Islamic world,” he stressed.
“The resistance in the region will not retreat despite the martyrs and will achieve victory,” the ayatollah insisted.
Tuesday’s Iranian strike is Tehran’s second against Israel after it launched missiles and drones in April in retaliation for a deadly airstrike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus blamed on the Israeli military.
In both cases the Israeli air defense intercepted most of the missiles with the help of its allies and mainly the US.
Israel has vowed to respond to Tuesday’s Iranian attack.
The last time Khamenei led Friday prayers was in January 2020 following an Iranian missile attack on two bases where Americans were stationed in Iraq in response to the killing of Iranian Revolutionary Guard commander Qassem Soleimani by a US drone strike in Baghdad.
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