The forested area on the outskirts of Alama al-Shaab town was subjected to Israeli shelling before noon, which continued to hit areas like Al-Dhahira and Aita al-Shaab, expanding to reach the outskirts of the towns of Kfarshuba, Kfar Hammam, and the surrounding areas of Samaka and Sadana. Israeli positions in the hills of Kfarshuba were also targeted. Reports indicate that the "Ras al-Naqoura" naval site and the "Jal al-Alam" site in Al-Lubnani were struck by guided missiles, in addition to an injury sustained by a woman in Al-Houla from shrapnel of a shell that fell near her home. It was reported that an Israeli shell hit an uninhabited house in Kfarshuba, causing it to catch fire, leading the mayor to call for civil defense to extinguish the fire.
Media close to Hezbollah reported that 3 Israeli soldiers were killed and 4 were injured in an assault on the "Tuhayyet" site. Hezbollah announced in a statement that it targeted the Jal al-Alam sites, the Zar'it barracks, and the naval site located opposite Ras al-Naqoura with guided missiles and appropriate weapons, as well as targeting a gathering center for Israeli soldiers and a monitoring and reconnaissance system on Tuhayyat Hill south of Al-Manara with guided missiles, causing several casualties among the dead and injured.
In another statement, it was noted that it targeted the "Malakiyah" site: "In response to Zionist aggressions against Lebanese civilians, a group of martyrs Mahmoud Beiz and Mahdi Atwi from the Islamic Resistance attacked the Zionist Malakiyah site this Wednesday afternoon, 10-18-2023, with various types of missile and machine-gun fire, directly hitting it, resulting in injuries to several soldiers and significant damage to its technical equipment." The "martyrs" group of Hussein Fasa'i and Ahmad Qisas also targeted the Moutala site with appropriate weapons.
A group of martyrs Hussein Kamel al-Masri and Ali Youssef Aladdin in the Islamic Resistance targeted the Rweisat al-Alam site in the hills of Kfarshuba and the occupied Shebaa Farms with rocket shells and various weapons, including a 57 mm weapon, resulting in direct hits on the site. The party noted that as a result of the attacks, it mourned "the martyrs Taha Abbas Abbas and Ali Mohammad Marmar in Aitroun while performing their jihadist duty."
Scenes of Hezbollah targeting an Israeli monitoring site near the Lebanese border were reported shortly after. A Lebanese farmer was also reported injured in one of the fields near Aitroun after being shot at from the Israeli "Malakiyah" site. Later, the "Fajr Forces" announced: "We launched a rocket strike targeting enemy sites in the occupied territories, achieving direct hits."
Israeli media revealed that the army started establishing a field hospital in the Galilee region in preparation for the possibility of a confrontation with Hezbollah. The spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces, Avichai Adraee, stated on his official "X" account: "In the last hour, several anti-tank missiles were launched by saboteurs towards the Al-Manara and Ras al-Naqoura area on the Lebanese border, where the IDF attacked the sources of fire and is targeting Hezbollah infrastructure inside Lebanese territory."
He added: "IDF tanks recently destroyed two positions inside Lebanon, having detected attempts to use them to launch anti-tank shells towards Israeli territory, and the IDF forces attacked a site from which an anti-tank shell was recently fired towards the town of Moutala. In response, the Mount Ross area was shelled as our forces returned fire at the sources of fire." Channel 14 reported that in just one day, 10 anti-tank missiles were launched from Lebanon towards Israeli army targets near the Lebanese border with Palestine.
Earlier today, the Lebanese Red Cross announced in a statement that "the Red Cross teams transported this afternoon from the outskirts of Alama al-Shaab, near the border, to Hiram Hospital the bodies of 3 killed who were targeted by Israeli shelling earlier, as well as body parts. This operation was conducted in coordination with the Lebanese army and UNIFIL forces." Hezbollah mourned in a statement the individual who fell during clashes with Israeli forces at the border, identified as "Ali Adnan Shaqir (Jawad) from the town of Mais al-Jabal in southern Lebanon." Hezbollah also published a video showing the Islamic Resistance targeting an Israeli army gathering at the Ramya site at the Lebanese-Palestinian border with guided missiles, causing confirmed injuries among both dead and wounded.
At 3:15 AM today Wednesday, a group from Hezbollah targeted an Israeli Merkava tank at the "Monk" site, achieving a direct hit that resulted in the death and injury of its crew. Israeli media reported injuries to 4 soldiers from the army as a result of anti-tank missile launches on the border with Lebanon.
UNIFIL spokesman Andrea Tenenti considered that "the situation in the south is tense, and we continue to urge the parties along the blue line not to escalate further towards war," wishing for the parties in Lebanon to cease fire to allow us to propose a solution to this crisis as no one wants to see more people killed and injured. Tenenti pointed out that "UNIFIL's plan changes according to the security situation on the ground; we have not changed anything in terms of our deployment, but if we hear rumors, we revert to deployment, and our agenda is set by the security situation in the country."
He stated: "Our work is ongoing, including regular activities such as troop rotations in and out of Lebanon. We have no plans to leave." Southern Lebanon and border areas witnessed a tense night as the security situation deteriorated, and some southern towns were subjected to heavy shelling.
The border line had recently been the site of military operations and artillery missile shelling on military sites, particularly in the open areas along both sides of the border without reaching the depth of the Israeli settlements, which the Israeli army evacuated of civilians, or the neighborhoods of Lebanese towns adjacent to the border. The Israeli army shelled the outskirts of Alama al-Shaab, Maroun al-Ras, and Al-Dhahira town with phosphorus shells, leading to fires and damage to some homes and crops, with the Lebanese army working to evacuate residents. The army also shelled the main road Kfar Kila - Adaisseh, and the heights of both towns and the hills of Markaba, along with the outskirts of Al-Bustan and Aita al-Shaab, in addition to the hill of Hammams and the Hejaz plain.
### Evacuation up to 5 kilometers
The Israeli government announced today, Wednesday, evacuation orders for settlements located within five kilometers of the northern border with Lebanon, following a decision made days ago to evacuate 28 settlements located two kilometers from the border. According to the Jerusalem Post, this decision was made in a telephone vote, and the plan will be implemented according to Defense Minister Yoav Galant's directives. This is the second decision made within days, following escalating tensions between Hezbollah and the Israeli army since the launch of Operation "Al-Aqsa Flood."
