Israel kills 2 “key” Hezbollah operatives in S. Lebanon: army

JERUSALEM/BEIRUT, Nov. 3 (Xinhua) — Israel on Sunday said that its forces killed two “key” Hezbollah operatives who were responsible for firing rockets at northern Israel in southern Lebanon.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it “struck and eliminated the terrorists Farouk Amin Alasi, the Hezbollah commander of the Khiam area, and Yousef Ahmad Nun, a Radwan Forces company commander in the Khiam area.”
Alasi was responsible for “the execution of many anti-tank missile and rocket attacks toward Israeli communities in the Galilee Panhandle, and especially Metula,” and Nun was responsible for “rocket and anti-tank missile attacks toward Israeli communities in the Galilee area and IDF troops operating in the area,” the IDF said.
Lebanese security sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Xinhua that an Israeli warplane fired four air-to-ground missiles at a two-story building in Lebanon’s southeastern town of Khiam, killing the two Hezbollah military officials and destroying the house.
The attack was part of the Israeli army’s large-scale military operation in Khiam, the main stronghold of Hezbollah, the sources said, noting, “With the Israeli army entering Khiam, it has reached the deepest point in its ground campaign.”
Hezbollah has not yet commented on the incident.
The cross-border fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, which began last October, continued on Sunday. The IDF said it unleashed more airstrikes in Baalbek in eastern Lebanon and elsewhere in Lebanon, while more than 35 rockets were identified crossing from Lebanon toward northern Israel, causing no injuries.
In separate statements on Sunday, Hezbollah said it attacked several gatherings of Israeli soldiers and vehicles with rockets in Wata al-Khiam, the Khallet al-Assafir area of Khiam, the Tal al-Nahas area on the outskirts of Kfar Kila, the town of Sarda, and al-Umrah area.
Since Sept. 23, the Israeli army has been launching an intensive air attack on Lebanon in a dangerous escalation with Hezbollah. Earlier this month, Israel initiated a ground operation across its northern border into Lebanon. ■