BEIRUT: A Lebanese TV cameraman was injured on Saturday in Israeli air raids near the Al-Khardali River, the first time the area has been targeted since the outbreak of fighting along the southern Lebanon border.
Khader Marquez, a cameraman with Hezbollah’s Al-Manar channel, was crossing a road when missile fragments from a blast about 50 meters away struck his right eye.
A reporter, Ali Shuaib, who was driving a press vehicle, was unhurt.
A female representative from the National News Agency in Marjayoun, Aline Semaan, and MTV correspondent Roger Nohra were traveling in a convoy behind the first vehicle, but also escaped injury.
The Al-Khardali River forms a link between the Nabatieh and Marjayoun districts in UNIFIL’s area of peacekeeping operations.
Shuaib said that he was reporting on damage caused by an Israeli raid on the nearby town of Kafr Kila.
“Some civilians accompanied us, and we completed a report on their steadfastness,” he said.
“While we were moving to another location, there were raids near the Al-Khardali River, and then there was a raid near us.
“We were part of a convoy of cars on this vital road. It is relatively far from the circle of confrontations, and it is a road linking the Nabatieh area to the eastern and central sectors,” said Shuaib.
Clashes between Hezbollah and the Israeli army entered their 77th day on Saturday with a lull in fighting that one security source attributed to “stormy weather in the region.”
Hezbollah said that it targeted a deployment of Israeli soldiers near Birkat Risha, and also struck Israeli army positions in the Shebaa Farms with two missiles.
Later in the day, the militant group said that it had attacked Israeli infantry at Tallet Al-Tihat and Jabal Nadhar.
Israeli artillery shelled the outskirts of Aita Al-Shaab, while the Ain Al-Zarqa area between Tayr Harfa and Alma Al-Shaab was also hit by intermittent shelling.
Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee said on Saturday that the military carried out raids on Hezbollah targets, including operational and terrorist infrastructure, and a military compound.
Israeli Channel 12 reported that the Golani Brigade, which was withdrawn from Gaza, will soon be deployed along the border with Lebanon.
Adraee said on social media that “the Golani Brigade’s withdrawal from Gaza is a warriors’ break, and the brigade will assume new missions in new areas with new responsibilities in the coming days.”
Hezbollah announced the death of two fighters, Hassan Abdul Nabi Tlays from Brital in Bekaa and Ali Hussein Harb from Yaroun in southern Lebanon, bringing its total losses since the start of hostilities to almost 120.
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