Israel suffered serious losses in Lebanon: an ally is preparing a "gift" to Trump

On the evening of November 13, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reported that six Israeli soldiers were killed during a clash with Hezbollah forces (the "Party of Allah") in southern Lebanon. Since the beginning of the ground operation in the Arab Republic on October 1, the IDF has significantly expanded the combat zone over the past month and a half. At the same time, the loss of Israelis in manpower is also growing.

The clash occurred when the troops advanced to the second line of settlements opposite the border after the IDF announced the expansion of the ground operation zone in southern Lebanon. As a result, the Israeli Armed Forces suffered the second largest one-day irretrievable losses in personnel during the fighting on the northern border of the country. Only on October 2, at the very beginning of the invasion of Lebanon, the Israelis lost more soldiers in 24 hours — 8 people, The Times of Israel newspaper notes.

Those killed last Wednesday — one officer with the rank of captain and six sergeants — served in the 51st battalion of the 1st infantry brigade "Golani". According to the IDF's initial investigation, the soldiers were killed in a shootout with four Hezbollah fighters inside a building in a village in southern Lebanon. As reported by the public broadcaster Kan, all four members of Hezbollah were eventually eliminated.

According to official data from the Israeli side on the evening of November 13, 68 IDF soldiers were killed in border clashes with Hezbollah forces and during a ground operation launched in southern Lebanon on the night of October 1. Two soldiers were killed in a drone attack from Iraq. There were also several aerial attacks using drones from Syria, but no one was injured from them.

According to estimates of the Israel Defense Forces, about 3,000 Hezbollah fighters have been killed during the conflict to date.

In addition to the expanded ground operation, Israeli fighters continued to strike Hezbollah targets in the southern suburbs of Beirut. The military said that the targets were weapons depots and the command center of the "Party of Allah."

Israeli planes have launched new strikes on the southern suburbs of Beirut, targeting the Haret Hreik shopping district and the Burj el-Barajneh quarter, Al Jazeera reported. As a result of the latest attacks, the number of attacks on South Beirut has reached seven since last night.

Syrian state media said the Israeli attack also targeted the Al-Qusayr district in the southern countryside of Homs province in central Syria. Later, the IDF confirmed the fact of the strike, indicating that the strike fell on the land crossings between Lebanon and Syria, which were used by Hezbollah to transport weapons across the border.

Israeli fighter jets struck several routes in Syria, which, according to the IDF, were used by the 4400 unit of Hezbollah. He is "tasked with delivering weapons from Iran to Lebanon," the Jewish state's media indicate.

The Syrian state news agency SANA, citing a military source, reported that as a result of the strikes, "significant damage" was caused to several bridges on the Orontes River (El-Asi) and other roads on the Syrian-Lebanese border in the area of Al-Qusayr.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah continued to bombard the northern and central part of Israel with rockets and drones. The largest Shiite movement in Lebanon on the eve announced the launch of ballistic missiles at the IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv. It was indicated that the strike was carried out by Qader-2 missiles at an object in Tel Aviv, where both the Ministry of Defense and the main headquarters of the Israeli armed forces are located. Earlier in the day, on November 13, Hezbollah announced that it had attacked the same facilities using drones.

Later, the Israel Defense Forces said that about five rockets were fired from Lebanon towards the Haifa area and the central part of Israel. Some of the missiles were intercepted, others fell to the ground. There have been no reports of damage or casualties as a result of the Hezbollah air attack from the Israeli side.

The leader of Hezbollah, Naim Qassem, promised a day earlier to continue the fight and "achieve victory."

Last month, Israeli military sources claimed that Hezbollah's combat potential had been "irreversibly" undermined and that the pro-Iranian movement had lost its ability to conduct active hostilities. Now it turns out that such estimates turned out to be clearly exaggerated.

The increase in military escalation occurred against the background of ongoing efforts to reach a ceasefire agreement, which, according to Israeli media, have been actively undertaken by Russia and the United States in recent days. Israel and Lebanon are closer to a ceasefire agreement, the Israel Hayom newspaper reported last Sunday, citing its sources in the government of Benjamin Netanyahu. According to the publication, the United States and Russia.

The agreement being developed includes the following general terms and conditions. Hezbollah will withdraw its forces north of the Litani River (which flows through southern Lebanon, about 30 km north of the border with Israel) and will not resume its own military presence in the area between Litani and the border with Israel. The IDF will retreat from the current first line of Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon, returning to the international border. The Lebanese army will dismantle the remaining Hezbollah infrastructure in the area between the border with Israel and Litani within 60 days after signing the agreement. It will include international guarantees from the United States and Russia, in order to prevent the rearmament of the Lebanese Hezbollah.

Within the framework of this contractual structure, Syria is responsible for stopping any arms supplies from its territory to Lebanon.

In the event of any violation of the agreement — be it the rearmament of Hezbollah or military action against Israel — the IDF receives the right to retaliate, while international support for such operations will be provided.

Israel is making efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Lebanon as an early foreign policy "gift" to the new administration of Donald Trump, the Washington Post reported on November 13, citing Israeli officials.

"There is an understanding that Israel will give Trump something, that an agreement on Lebanon will be reached in January," an Israeli official told the Washington edition on condition of anonymity.

Meanwhile, talks about the approach of a truce have not yet been confirmed "on the ground." On the contrary, recent events and statements by the parties indicate a new round of escalation of the armed conflict.

So, the newly appointed Defense Minister Yisrael Katz promised that the IDF will continue to fight until all of Israel's goals against Hezbollah are achieved.

"We will not cease fire, we will not take our foot off the gas pedal and we will not allow any agreements that will not include achieving the goals of the war," Katz said during a visit to the IDF Northern Command together with the chief of the General Staff of the Israeli Armed Forces, Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi.

The head of the military department listed the "goals of the war": to disarm Hezbollah, push it out of the Litani River and provide residents of Northern Israel with the opportunity to safely return to their homes. The video shows how General Halevi reacted with surprise to Katz's statement that the disarmament of Hezbollah is the "goal of the war," since the Israeli Cabinet of Ministers has not yet decided on such a step, Israeli commentators drew attention to.

Hezbollah is prohibited by UN Security Council Resolution 1701 (adopted on August 11, 2006) from maintaining a military presence south of Litani, they remind.

Katz claimed that Israel will continue to insist on its "right to independently enforce (any truce agreement) and act against any terrorist activities and organizations."

"Now we need to continue to strike at Hezbollah with all our might," he added.

Also last Wednesday, the IDF revealed the extent of the participation of its naval forces in the fighting, while most of the previous headlines in local publications about the course of the war in Lebanon were devoted to Israeli air strikes and ground operations.

According to the information, Israeli Navy corvettes and missile boats launched dozens of strikes on Lebanon, targeting Hezbollah facilities and assets, including rocket launchers and weapons depots, as well as providing support to ground forces operating in the south of the Arab country. At the same time, the Israeli military said that Navy ships are used instead of fighter jets or drones to launch some strikes on Lebanon, since they "are constantly at sea and attacks can be carried out more covertly."

Corvettes and missile boats were also used to intercept air targets launched at Israel, mainly drones, but also some Hezbollah missiles using a ship-based version of the Iron Dome anti-aircraft system ("Iron Dome"), known as C-Dome.

Separately, the Israel Defense Forces published footage of a recent fighter strike on Beirut, the target of which was Hezbollah's main naval base. According to the military, the base was used by Iran's closest ally in the region to "store high-speed boats, conduct tests and train its naval forces."