...an Iranian satrapy until recently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers...in the ground operation launched last month.
The official National News Agency reported the entry of "a large number of tanks belonging to the Israeli occupation army" into the eastern outskirts of Khiam, some six kilometres (nearly four miles) from the border with Israel.
Hezbollah, for its part, said it targeted Israeli troops south and southwest of Khiam on Tuesday with rocket and artillery fire.
| The Times of Israel is relying on Lebanese reports for this story, adding: |
There was no immediate comment from the IDF on any operations in that area.
Earlier today, the IDF said it demolished an underground Hezbollah command center and another bunker where explosives were stored underneath a village in southern Lebanon.