Israel carried out multiple drone strikes against southern Lebanon again on Wednesday, killing two people and wounding another. The death toll of Tuesday’s strike in Aitaroun also rose further, with a 17-year-old wounded in that strike passing away, bringing the Tuesday death toll to two as well.
Today’s attacks focused on vehicles once again, hitting one vehicle in Wadi al-Hujair, an area near the coast, and killing one person. A second strike was reported against a car in Hanin, further to the east, killing one and wounding another.
Much as with yesterday, the casualties have not been conclusively identified, and also much like yesterday, Israeli spokesman Avichay Adraee is leaning into the narrative that one of them is a top Hezbollah figure, this time claiming the Wadi al-Hujair man was a “senior Radwan Force commander.”
Just like the “platoon commander” alleged to have been killed yesterday in Aitaroun, there is as yet no evidence that this was actually the case. The Radwan Force is Hezbollah’s special operations force, and it is among the most common groups for someone killed to be posthumously named a “commander” of, along with the rockets and missiles unit and at times, the Hezbollah navy, despite Hezbollah not having any ships.
There was no comment on the Israeli strike against Hanin yet, and it is not that unusual for some of Israel’s deadly drone strikes to go totally without even a pro forma offer on pretext. So long as one of the fatal strikes on the day is connected with an allegation of some sort of Hezbollah leader, the Israeli press can be expected to lead with that story, and any other killings will be mentioned in passing, if at all.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz confirmed in his latest comments that Israel intends to continue their occupations of Lebanon, Syria and the Gaza Strip, saying the country won’t withdraw like it had sometimes in the past but rather will stay “indefinitely.”
The November 26 ceasefire mandated an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon, and for the Lebanese Army to deploy into the south to replace Hezbollah. This remains a continued violation, and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun warns that the continued presence of Israeli forces is hindering the Lebanese Army from completing their deployment in some parts of the south, which are effectively still occupied territory.
Katz’s comments are consistent with past pledges to remain in southern Lebanon, though it is noteworthy that he did not address the deeper invasions and seizing of more Lebanese territory by Israeli ground forces in the past week. So far such deployments have effectively not been officially commented upon.
