Hezbollah Faces Israeli Forces Landing in Eastern Lebanon

Hezbollah soldiers. (Wikimedia Commons/Tasnim News Agency)

JAKARTA - The militant group Hezbollah said on Monday it was fighting Israeli forces who landed in eastern Lebanon with helicopters crossing the Syrian border, the second operation since the outbreak of the latest conflict with Israel.

In a statement on Monday, Hezbollah said it had detected "the infiltration of about 15 Israeli enemy helicopters" from the Syrian side of the border in eastern Lebanon, an area where Hezbollah is in power.

The group said its fighters "engaged with helicopters and infiltrators with appropriate weapons, and confrontations" were still ongoing, AFP reported (9/3).

Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA) earlier reported "fierce clashes in the outskirts of Nabi Sheet to repel Israeli forces who carried out a helicopter landing" in the area.

Two Hezbollah officials in the Bekaa region, where Nabi Sheet was, told AFP an Israeli helicopter had been shot down.

The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the incident.

This is the second attack after an Israeli commando operation in Nabi Sheet and its surroundings on Friday night failed to find the remains of Ron Arad, a pilot missing since 1986, and killed 41 people.

Lebanon was dragged into the Middle East war last week when the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah attacked Israel in response to the killing of Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei during a US-Israeli attack.

Israel, which continues to carry out attacks targeting Hezbollah despite a 2024 ceasefire, launched several waves of attacks last week across Lebanon and sent ground troops to the border area.