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Jerusalem [Israel], October 13 (ANI/TPS): Israeli forces seized Hezbollah weapons in warehouses hidden in dozens of southern Lebanese civilian homes, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Sunday morning, along with footage from the raids.
Video footage showed mines, mines, Kalashnikov rifles, magazines, combat vests and Russian-made Kornet anti-tank missiles, much of which was intended for use in a Hezbollah invasion of the Galilee, the IDF said. "The forces conducted face-to-face battles, eliminated terrorists and destroyed terrorist infrastructure that Hezbollah has deployed along the border," the IDF added. Soldiers found tunnel infrastructure inside one of the villages, including living quarters for Hezbollah fighters. According to the IDF, airstrikes directed by troops on the ground have killed "many" Hezbollah terrorists. Sarit Zahavi, president and founder of the Alma Research Center, told The Press Service of Israel in August that Hezbollah doctrine makes extensive use of civilian homes, where many more weapons, including ballistic missiles, are kept. "Hezbollah stores their weapons everywhere, both between villages and within the villages themselves," she said. "By and large, every third house in the Shi'ite villages of south Lebanon is used in some way by Hezbollah for military purposes, be it weapons storage, the entrance of a tunnel, or a launchpad for shooting rockets at Israel," she explained. Meanwhile, the IDF said that it struck more than 200 Hezbollah targets in the last day, hitting rocket launchers, anti-tank posts, ammunition depots and more. Hezbollah launched 320 missiles, rockets and drones on Saturday as Israelis marked the solemn Yom Kippur holiday. One UAV struck a retirement home in Herzliya on Friday night, whose residents included Holocaust survivors. Nobody was injured. After the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023, the Iran-backed Hezbollah began firing rockets and launching drones at northern Israel communities, killing 51 people. According to figures released by the government on September 29, more than 68,000 residents of northern Israel are displaced from their homes. Hezbollah leaders have repeatedly said they would continue the attacks to prevent Israelis from returning to their homes. Israel's war goals include securely returning northern residents to their homes. Israeli officials demand Hezbollah to be disarmed and removed from southern Lebanon in compliance with UN Security Council resolution 1701 which ended the Second Lebanon War of 2006. This includes all areas south of the Litani River such as the cities of Nabatieh and Tyre, as well as the Beqaa Valley in eastern Lebanon. (ANI/TPS)
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