Injured Including Two in Critical Condition in Kiryat Shmona and Slow Israeli Ground Incursion in Lebanon

SadaNews - Three people were injured, including two in critical condition, after a building was directly hit in Kiryat Shmona, while Israel continues to escalate its military operations in southern Lebanon by intensifying air and artillery strikes that have resulted in casualties, alongside a slow ground advance in the border towns.

The towns of Taybeh and Khiyam witnessed intense attacks, targeted by consecutive airstrikes and heavy artillery shelling, as clashes have continued in their surroundings for several days. In this context, Hezbollah announced that it had set a "tight ambush" for Israeli forces attempting to advance in Taybeh, targeting them with guided missiles, indicating the destruction of Merkava tanks, and confirming its repulsion of another advance attempt in the town of Khiyam.

On the ground, a source close to the United Nations stated that Israeli forces are continuing their ground advance at a slow pace, averaging one to two kilometers per day, while executing a "systematic destruction" of the villages they enter, such as Kafr Kila and Aitaroun, pointing out that the forces have not yet begun a wide-scale ground assault, and clashes are occurring with Hezbollah fighters moving in small groups. He added that Israeli forces are now close to full control of the strategically important town of Khiyam.

In the latest developments, Israeli warplanes launched successive airstrikes on the old bridge in the Qasmiyeh area, and they targeted the Qasmiyeh Bridge (the internal bridge) again in the same location that was previously bombed, resulting in minor injuries to a journalist. In the town of Adlun, an airstrike targeting a house on the outskirts of the town resulted in two martyrs, while the town of Ibl al-Saqi was subjected to artillery shelling, during which three shells fell inside the town.

These developments come amid the continuing Israeli bombardment since March 2, which, according to official Lebanese data, has resulted in the martyrdom of 968 people and the injury of 2432 others, including children and women, in addition to the widening area of displacement. In this context, Israeli reports indicated that political leadership is considering expanding ground operations and occupying the first-line villages in southern Lebanon, while the European Union called for a halt to operations, warning of "devastating" humanitarian consequences as the number of displaced persons exceeds one million.