The Islamic Resistance fighters have continued confronting the Israeli aggression on Lebanon, inflicting heavy losses upon the enemy’s soldiers, officers, and equipment along the border area as well as their deployment positions in occupied Palestine, the Islamic Resistance Operations Room introduced its statement summing the latest developments of the battlefield.

The statement summarized the most important developments in the main field confrontations between the Islamic Resistance and the Israeli enemy:

1. Haifa Qualitative Operation:

– Haifa qualitative missile operation is part of the promise made by the Islamic Resistance Operations Room to intensify and escalate the “Khaibar” series of special operations. It also serves to refute the claims of enemy leaders regarding the destruction of the Resistance’s missile force.
– Through this operation, the Resistance affirms its ability to target enemy military bases of various types simultaneously and with large salvos of precise missiles, which rained down on the occupied city of Haifa and successfully hit their targets.
– The operation achieved its objectives, with Resistance missiles striking the five announced military bases, forcing over 300,000 settlers into shelters.
– Settlers are paying the price for the “Israeli” enemy army’s strategy of placing military bases within settlements and occupied cities, near commercial and economic interests.
– The Resistance has prepared itself to ensure its readiness and capability to conduct such operations in Haifa and beyond [beyond] Haifa, over a time frame that the enemy does not anticipate.

2. The Enemy’s Declaration of the Second Phase of the Ground Operation in Southern Lebanon:

– Following a 40% retreat in the “Israeli” enemy army’s air and ground operations in the border area, due to its inability to establish control within Lebanese territory, the enemy rushed to announce the second phase of its ground operation in southern Lebanon.
– The Islamic Resistance Operations Room confirms that the concentrated and strategic defensive operations it carried out during the “first phase” of the enemy’s ground operations forced its forces to retreat beyond the border in some areas and denied them the ability to stabilize in most of the border towns.
– The “Israeli” enemy’s air force continues to attack border villages —which it claims to control—with dozens of airstrikes by warplanes and drones daily, regardless of the artillery shelling and sweeping with machine guns from border positions targeting many of these villages. These assaults confirm the enemy’s failure to establish control within Lebanese territory. The recent attempts to advance toward areas south of Al-Khiam—where they previously attempted to enter but were forced to withdraw under the blows of the fighters—further demonstrate the failure of the first phase.
– Since the start of the ground operation until the date of this statement, our heroic fighters have carried out over 350 operations against “Israeli” enemy forces on Lebanese territories, and more than 600 fire operations targeting the zones of responsibility of “Israeli” military divisions on occupied Palestinian territories, causing significant losses to the enemy army.
– To the officers and soldiers of the “Israeli” enemy army, we affirm that what happened to Battalion 51 of the Golani Brigade at the outskirts of the Ainata – Maroun Al-Ras – Aitaroun triangle is just the beginning, and between us and you there are the days, the nights, and the battlefield. As our most sacred martyr [His Eminence Martyr Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah] said: “You will enter vertically and leave horizontally.”

3. Ground Engagements:

– Western Sector:

– “Israeli” enemy forces advanced toward the town of Shamaa in the western sector in an attempt to seize control and pressure the second-line towns of the front, aiming to reduce the Resistance’s missile strikes on the city of Nahariya and the Haifa area in occupied Palestine.
– Enemy forces infiltrated from Al-Labbuneh forests, passing through the forests of Alma Al-Shaab and Tayr Harfa, heading toward Shamaa.
– The advancing forces fell into a series of ambushes prepared by our fighters on the outskirts of the town and within it.
– As a crew, including an armored company, attempted to advance toward the vicinity of the town’s mosque and municipal building (east of the UNIFIL site), our fighters targeted them with guided missiles, destroying two Merkava tanks and a bulldozer accompanying the force. Additionally, a guided missile targeted an infantry force near the shrine of Prophet Shamoun Al-Safa in the town center, resulting in several casualties.
– Close-range clashes occurred between our fighters and enemy forces around the shrine, the municipal building, the mosque, and the outskirts of the town. These engagements, which involved machine guns, hand grenades, and rocket-propelled grenades, took place over five times, causing significant casualties among enemy forces. “Israeli” evacuation units responded by dispatching two helicopters for rescue and evacuation, utilizing flares to identify their location near the town’s school.
– On the western outskirts of Al-Jibein, our fighters targeted a Merkava tank with a guided missile, killing and wounding its crew. The area was then shelled with 120mm and 81mm mortar rounds.
– The Resistance’s missile units targets enemy soldier positions and military equipment along this axis with dozens of missile salvos and artillery shells.

Central Sector: Ainata – Maroun Al-Ras – Aitaroun Triangle:

Refuting the “Israeli” enemy’s narrative regarding the ambush that ensnared its forces at the Ainata – Maroun Al-Ras – Aitaroun triangle, and to document the heroics of our fighters on the battlefronts, the Islamic Resistance Operations Room announces the following:

– At dawn on Wednesday, November 13, 2024, our fighters detected a force from Battalion 51 of the Golani Brigade belonging to Division 36 infiltrating from the border area between Aitaroun and Maroun Al-Ras toward the southeastern outskirts of Bint Jbeil aiming to conduct reconnaissance at the Ainata – Maroun Al-Ras – Aitaroun triangle.
– Despite intense aerial bombardments by the “Israeli” air force over the area, the enemy force fell into a well-planned ambush set by a group of Resistance fighters.
– The enemy force reached the ambush site at 9:50 am, where a group of our fighters was positioned in a building damaged by the aggression and its surrounding area.
– As the “Israeli” force approached the “kill zone”, our fighters opened fire from all directions using machine guns, forcing the enemy to scatter in the place.
– A portion of the hostile force entered a house in the region to protect itself from the fire of our fighters while the rest soldiers deployed around it.
– Once the enemy stabilized in the house, and with the call of Labbaik Ya Nasrallah, [We are at your service O Nasrallah] our fighters targeted the house with several RPG rounds designed for personnel and armor, destroying parts of the building and killing those inside.
– As the house collapsed, and amidst the panic among the remaining “Israeli” enemy forces in its vicinity, our fighters opened fire on those who have remained from the force with machine guns.
– The clashes continued for over three hours, during which evacuation operations took place under heavy smoke and cover fire.
– The “Israeli” army admitted that an officer and 5 soldiers from Battalion 51 of Golani Brigade were killed in addition to four being wounded.
– No ground activity by the Israeli enemy army has been recorded in the area since the incident until this date.
– It is worth noting that during July 2006 aggression, a force from Battalion 51 of the Golani Brigade fell into a Resistance ambush on the eastern outskirts of Bint Jbeil which resulted in 8 soldiers being killed and over 25 being wounded, marking it as one of the most significant battles in the Golani Brigade’s history and one of the hardest-fought engagements of the “Second Lebanon War”.

Eastern Sector:

– The enemy has intensified its aggression on Al-Khiam city and its surroundings over recent days, carrying out over 60 airstrikes and drone attacks, in addition to launching more than 130 artillery shells. This was in preparation for a renewed attempt to advance toward the city after its initial failure over ten days ago due to the severe blows inflicted by the fighters.
– Our fighters engaged with the advancing forces as they reached Wata Al-Khiam area south of the city, using machine guns and rocket shells. They also targeted two Merkava tanks with guided missiles, setting them ablaze and killing and wounding those inside.
– Following a series of concentrated missile operations and direct clashes with the advancing forces from the eastern and southern directions of Al-Khiam, the enemy, facing heavy losses and under the relentless strikes of the fighters, partially retreated from the positions it had advanced to for the second time.

The statement also illustrated the enemy losses in the ongoing ground battle between the Islamic Resistance and the Israeli enemy:

Since the “Israeli” enemy announced the start of the “second phase” of its ground operation in southern Lebanon on November 12, 2024, the Islamic Resistance fighters have documented the following losses:
– Over 18 killed and 32 wounded (some critically) among enemy troops.
– Destruction of five Merkava tanks and one military bulldozer.

So the cumulative losses of the “Israeli” enemy from October 1, 2024, to the date of this statement are as follows:
– Over 110 killed and more than 1,050 wounded among enemy officers and soldiers.
– Destruction of 48 Merkava tanks, 9 military bulldozers, 2 Hummer vehicles, 2 armored vehicles, and 2 troop carriers.
– Downing of 6 “Hermes 450” drones, 2 “Hermes 900” drones, and 1 “Quadcopter” glider.

It is noteworthy that these figures do not include the enemy’s losses at its bases, military sites, barracks, settlements, or occupied cities.

Source: Al-Manar English Website