Israel hits more Hezbollah targets, border clashes reported

Oct. 3 (UPI) -- Israel intensified its airstrikes against Hezbollah targets in Beirut and other regions, inflicting more casualties and damage, while the party's fighters clashed with advancing Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon , Hezbollah and Israeli reports said Thursday.

Three air strikes targeted Hezbollah's stronghold in Beirut's southern suburbs, hitting a building in Haret Hreik housing the group's information unit that organized a tour Wednesday of 200 local and foreign journalists to observe the considerable damage inflicted on the once-densely populated area.

Most residents have left their homes for safety since the Israeli attacks started two weeks ago, in accordance with immediate evacuation orders by the Israeli army.

Israeli jets also targeted houses and apartments in the mountainous villages of Kaifoun southeast of Beirut and Moaasara in the Christian Kesrwan district, as well as in southern and eastern Lebanon.

The death toll of last nighttime air strike on a building in Beirut's Bashoura neighborhood rose to nine, including seven paramedics from Hezbollah's Islamic Health Authority. Fourteen were injured, four of them still in hospital, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

The targeted building houses a center for the Islamic Health Authority and the office of Hezbollah deputy in the parliament Amin Sherri. Bashoura is situated at the entrance of the capital's downtown area.

The Jerusalem Post quoted the Israeli Army as saying that Israeli jets targeted Hezbollah's Intelligence Headquarters in Beirut on Thursday, without specifying where the hit occurred. Hezbollah has not confirmed it.

Health Minister Firas Abiad said Thursday that 1,974 people have been killed, including 127 children and 97 from medical and emergency teams, since the start of the Israeli attacks on Lebanon this year. Some 9,384 people have been injured.

Abiad said that dozens of medical centers and more than 10 hospitals were damaged in the Israeli raids. He dismissed Israel's allegations that the hospitals included weapons or medical teams transporting arms.

Jeanine Hennis, the United Nations' special coordinator for Lebanon, said on X that it had been "another sleepless night in Beirut."

"Counting the blasts shaking the city. No warning sirens. Not knowing what's next. Only that uncertainty lies ahead. Anxiety and fear are omnipresent," Hennis said .

Meanwhile, Hezbollah' s military wing, the Islamic Resistance, said its fighters foiled at dawn "all attempts" by an Israeli elite force to advance from various sites in south Lebanon" by using machine guns, missiles and explosive charges, according to Hezbollah's Al Manar TV. "They inflicted big losses among the enemy forces," it said.

On Wednesday, eight Israeli soldiers were killed and another five wounded in combat with Hezbollah fighters in two southern Lebanon border towns.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent his condolences to the families of his fallen soldiers in a recorded statement .

"We are in the middle of a tough war against Iran's axis of evil, which seeks to destroy us. This will not happen -- because we will stand together, and with God's help -- we will win together," he said.

The Israeli Ynet website quoted the Israeli Army as saying Thursday that more than 100 Hezbollah fighters were killed by ground and air strikes since the start of the ground operation in southern Lebanon. There was no confirmation from Hezbollah.

Moreover, Israeli Army spokesperson Avichay Adraee was quoted by Ynet as saying on X that 20 more towns in south Lebanon were warned to evacuate their homes immediately.

Lebanese Transportation Minister Ali Hamieh dismissed Israeli accusations that the Masnaa border crossing with Syria is used by Hezbollah to smuggle weapons.

Hamieh said during a news conference that all land, sea and air crossings were monitored by the government.

"All crossings, especially the Masnaa border crossing, are subject to monitoring and auditing procedures by the Lebanese administrative and security agencies, including customs, general security, and the Lebanese army," he said, emphasizing that all passing trucks are "subject to scrutiny and inspections by customs, General Security and the Army."

On Monday, the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza will have been raging for a year. Lebanon-based Hezbollah, another Iran-backed militia, has been striking Israel throughout the conflict, and the two sides have been trading attacks, forcing the evacuation of tens of thousands of Israelis living near the Israel-Lebanese border.

For the last few weeks, Israel has been targeting Hezbollah in Lebanon, as it has vowed to return its citizens who have been displaced for almost a year now to their homes in northern Israel.