Killed Hezbollah's Radwan elite forces deputy commander: IDF

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement on Wednesday that its air forces killed Mustafa Ahmad Shahadi, deputy commander of Hezbollah's elite Radwan forces, in the Lebanese city of Nabatieh.

The IDF noted that Shahadi, who was targeted based on intelligence, "advanced numerous terror attacks against Israel," Xinhua news agency reported. It added that his targeting is part of the Israeli operations aimed at degrading Radwan forces' capabilities "to direct and execute terror activities against IDF troops and communities in the northern border", in particular a plan to "occupy" the Galilee region in northern Israel.

According to the Israeli army, Shahadi was previously responsible for the Radwan forces' operations during combat in Syria between 2012 and 2017, and oversaw the forces' operations in southern Lebanon. Hezbollah has not made a comment on the Israeli claim.

Meanwhile, Israeli infantry forces on Wednesday took control of a section of the village of Khiam in southeastern Lebanon, as a drone from Lebanon injured two Israeli farmers.

Lebanese military sources who spoke anonymously told Xinhua that violent clashes took place between Hezbollah and the Israeli forces, which managed to penetrate Hezbollah's first defensive line in the eastern neighbourhood of Khiam.

"Various types of machine guns, artillery shells, and missiles were used in the clashes, while the Israeli army used drones and warplanes, which carried out raids on Hezbollah targets in central Khiam, paralysing its movement to a large extent," the sources said. The Israeli forces took control of the southeastern edge of Khiam this morning and advanced around 1,500 m into the area, they added.

The Israeli military also carried out intensive airstrikes targeting the villages of Kfarchouba, Rachaya al Foukhar, Wadi Barghaz, Wadi Al-Dalafa, the Litani Valley near al-Khardali, and the town of Shebaa, according to the military sources.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah said in statements that its fighters attacked gatherings of Israeli soldiers and their vehicles with rockets in the village of Wata al-Khiam, the Khallet al-Assafir area of Khiam, and the Tal al-Nahas area on the outskirts of Kfar Kila. They also conducted attacks with suicide drones and rockets in the Goma intersection south of Kiryat Shmona, Kabri, a kibbutz (community settlement) in Israel, the Al-Yaqousa area on the outskirts of Khiam, the Abbasiya Gate in Tyre district, and the Zar'it and Yaroun barracks, Xinhua news agency reported.

Israel's state-owned Kan TV News reported that a rocket fired from Lebanon on Wednesday fell in an agricultural area near the northern Israeli town of Metula and injured two farmers. Rambam Medical Centre in Haifa, to which the two farmers were transported, reported that one individual is in serious condition and receiving treatment in the intensive care unit, while the other sustained minor injuries.

Earlier in the day, the IDF instructed residents of the Lebanese city of Baalbek and the nearby villages of Ain Bourday and Douris to evacuate their homes immediately, causing concerns that the Israeli military may launch attacks in the area which were later confirmed by residents of the area on social media.