JERUSALEM, Feb 16 (NNN-XINHUA) – The Zionist Israeli regime announced yesterday that, its forces killed two commanders from Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and Hezbollah in Lebanon, while vowing to expand the attacks in Gaza and Lebanon.
During a meeting of the Emergency Preparedness Committee, the regime’s Defence Minister, Yoav Gallant, warned that, the regime is prepared to escalate its attacks in Lebanon, noting that, it has unleashed “no more than a tenth of our capabilities against Hezbollah.”
Israel has concluded a home front preparedness exercise for a full-fledged war scenario along the country’s northern borders with Lebanon and Syria, Gallant noted.
“The Air Force jets that are now flying above Lebanon have more massive bombs,” he said, adding that, the regime can attack 50 km deep into Lebanon and Beirut, the Lebanese capital.
Gallant added that, the regime’s forces will continue operations in the Rafah area in southern Gaza and other places.
Rockets fired by the Lebanese Hezbollah yesterday, caused a power outage in the northern Israeli city of Kiryat Shmona, after a high-voltage line was damaged, the state-owned Electric Corporation said in a statement.
The regime’s Defence Forces announced that, a commander of Hezbollah’s Radwan Forces, Ali Muhammad Aldbas, his deputy, and an operative were killed on Wednesday, in the regime’s drone attack on a Hezbollah military structure in the city of Nabatieh, in southern Lebanon.
Israeli warplanes carried out dozens of strikes on Hezbollah military structures in Blida, Maroun al-Ras and other areas in southern Lebanon, according to the regime.
Israel’s Ha’aretz newspaper reported yesterday that, senior Hezbollah official and parliament member, Hassan Fadlallah warned that, Israel “will pay the price” for its attacks in Lebanon, which killed 11 civilians a day earlier.
In another development, the Zionist army said, it raided the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, in an operation based on intelligence indicating that Hamas militants and the bodies of some Israeli hostages are in the hospital.
Hamas said, the Israeli forces forced the displaced people and staff to evacuate from the hospital, turning the largest functioning hospital in Gaza “into a military barrack.”
During the fighting in Gaza yesterday, an Israeli soldier was killed and 12 others were injured.
The Zionist army has so far claimed the lives of at least 28,663 Palestinian civilians, mostly women and children, and wounded 68,395 others, also mostly civilians, according to the Gaza-based Media Office.– NNN-XINHUA
