Lebanese border clashes continue, without escalation, following Nasrallah speech

Tel Aviv [Israel]: Israeli-Lebanese border clashes continued on Saturday but did not escalate following Friday’s speech by Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah.

Sirens were heard in numerous Israeli communities near the Lebanese border amid rocket and missile fire from southern Lebanon. No causalities were reported. Israel already evacuated most communities near the border.

The Israel Defense Forces said it struck two terror squads with air strikes. The IDF also released footage of the destruction of a Hezbollah observation post along the border.

The IDF said it also struck terror infrastructure, rocket storage sites, and military compounds belonging to Hezbollah.

A pro-Hezbollah Lebanese TV station, Al Mayadeen, claimed that the terror group for the first time fired short-range Burkan rockets, which are said to carry heavier payloads of explosives. The IDF did not comment and the claim could not be independently verified.

The clashes came on the heels of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah’s address on Friday, his first since Hamas’s attacks on southern Israeli communities. At least 1,400 people were killed. The IDF has confirmed 241 hostages were taken to Gaza, though that number is not final.

Nasrallah praised the October 7 attack, adding that the Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group did not have advance knowledge of Hamas’s plans. However, Nasrallah did not express any clear-cut intention to open a new front.

Editorials and polls in Lebanon’s pro-Hezbollah media continue to indicate that the terror group is looking for a ladder to climb down from previous promises to intervene in the Gaza War. Hamas leaders feel betrayed by Iran and Hezbollah, Palestinian sources have told the Tazpit Press Service.

However, an Iran-backed militia called the Imam Hussein Brigade is moving to southern Lebanon from Syria to bolster Hezbollah forces.