Jerusalem, Nov 12: Attacks by Lebanon's Hezbollah group Sunday wounded seven Israeli troops and 10 other people, Israel's military and rescue services said.
The clashes came as skirmishes between the Iran-backed group and Israeli military continue to intensify along the Lebanon-Israel border, threatening to escalate into another front in the Mideast's latest war.
The Israeli military said in a statement that "seven IDF soldiers were lightly injured as a result of the mortar shell launches in the area of Manara in northern Israel earlier today." Israeli rescue services did not identify the location or provide information about the 10 others wounded by rocket blasts and shrapnel, but said two of them were in critical condition.
The Israeli military said they identified 15 launches from Lebanon over the past hour and their defense systems intercepted four of them. The rest fell into open areas.
Hamas' military wing, meanwhile, claimed responsibility for shelling the northern Haifa and the Israeli border towns of Na'ura and Shlomi from southern Lebanon without giving any further details.
Hezbollah first fired antitank missiles at an Israeli community just over the border on Sunday, Israeli officials said, badly wounding utility workers. The Israeli military said it was striking the origin of the launch with artillery fire. The Israel Electric Corp. said workers in the rural community of Dovev were wounded while repairing lines damaged in a previous attack. Israeli media reported that six people were wounded, including one critically.
Israel struck several southern Lebanese towns, including Yaroun, Mays el-Jabal, and Alma al-Shaab. Hezbollah said it launched guided missiles against a "logistical force belonging to the occupation army that was about to install transmission poles and eavesdropping and spying devices near the Dovev barracks." It said it hit an Israeli military bulldozer in a separate strike. Shortly after the attack, air raid sirens were heard in northern Israel. Army Radio reported that another antitank missile had been fired from Lebanon.
Hezbollah later announced attacks on Israeli military gatherings and barracks in border areas Birket Riche and Zareit, as clashes continue to intensify along the tense Lebanon-Israel border.
The assault was the most serious incident involving civilians since an Israeli airstrike in south Lebanon on November 5 killed a woman and three children.
Israeli troops and Hezbollah and their allies have been clashing along the border since the Israel-Hamas war started five weeks ago with a bloody incursion into southern Israel by Hezbollah ally Hamas. While largely contained, clashes have increased in intensity as Israel conducts a ground offensive in Gaza against Hamas.
Also Sunday, the United Nations peacekeeping force in south Lebanon, UNIFIL, said one of its peacekeepers had been wounded by gunfire overnight near the Lebanese town of al-Qawza. It was not immediately clear where the shooting had come from or whether the peacekeepers were targeted or caught in crossfire. UNIFIL said it was investigating.
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Bengaluru: Congress MLC B. K. Hariprasad has launched a sharp attack on the BJP, accusing the party of hypocrisy over its criticism of alliance politics in Tamil Nadu.
In a post on X on Friday, Hariprasad said BJP leader B. L. Santhosh criticising the Congress party’s alliance politics in Tamil Nadu was “not just laughable, but the height of political contradiction.”
He said the Congress has always joined hands with like-minded parties to protect secular and democratic values in the country.
Hariprasad questioned the BJP over several of its past and present alliances across the country. Referring to Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Tripura, Bihar and Maharashtra, he accused the BJP of sharing power with parties it had earlier criticised.
He alleged that the BJP had aligned with separatist and corruption-linked political forces in different states for political gains.
“The BJP, which speaks against alliances today, should first look at its own political history,” he said, adding that the party’s record was full of “contradictions and changing stands.”
Hariprasad also accused the BJP of using central agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate, Income Tax Department and CBI as political tools to target opposition leaders, topple governments and influence electoral mandates.
He further claimed that the people of Tamil Nadu had strongly rejected the BJP and its ideology in the recent election.
“Congress forms alliances to protect the Constitution, secularism and national unity, while the BJP enters into alliances only for power,” he said.
