Israel’s campaign against Hezbollah militants in southern Lebanon reportedly could conclude in just two or three weeks, with one goal of the incursion a deal to free the remaining Israeli hostages still in the hands of Palestinian Hamas forces.
Israel’s Keshet 12 news channel said in a report Friday that a security official told the families of hostages in the Gaza Strip that the near-term goal of the Hezbollah mission is a diplomatic agreement that would help secure a deal to free those who were abducted after the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas almost exactly a year ago.
The government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been under intense public pressure from relatives of the estimated 100 Israeli hostages still being held to reach a cease-fire that would secure their release. At least some of the remaining hostages are believed to have died in captivity.
But at least some families of the hostages received proof in the past six weeks that their captured loved ones were still alive, the Times of Israel reported on Friday, citing Keshet 12.
On Friday, Israeli military officials said they destroyed more than 2,000 military targets in southern Lebanon and killed 250 Hezbollah militants over the last four days. Among those killed were five Hezbollah battalion commanders, 10 company commanders and six commanders of Hezbollah platoons, the officials said.
“Within the framework of this operation, the forces were able to eliminate terrorists who were entrenched in buildings and sites adjacent to the separation wall [between Israel and Lebanon] and prevent Hezbollah terrorists from approaching the wall,” Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee said Friday on X.
Israeli soldiers operating in southern Lebanon said they had found Hezbollah warehouses filled with missiles ready to be launched, combat equipment, explosive devices and saboteurs who had been left behind when the leaders fled, military officials said Friday.
While much of the world’s attention is focused on the conflict with Hezbollah in northern Israel, the Israeli military is continuing its operations against Palestinian fighters in Gaza and the West Bank, where at least seven militants were killed Thursday in a joint raid by Israeli troops and Shin Bet, the Israeli security agency.
Among those killed were members of Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas, who were involved in manufacturing explosives and conducting other terror activities against Israel, military officials said.
“The IDF and ISA struck the militants as they gathered to advance and carry out a terror attack against the state of Israel in the immediate future, neutralizing the threat they posed,” the Israeli military said Friday on its Telegram social media site.
• Mike Glenn can be reached at mglenn@washingtontimes.com.
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