Israeli Troops Battle Hezbollah Forces Near Strategic Town in Lebanon

JERUSALEM — The Israeli military announced Monday that its troops have completely surrounded the key southern Lebanese town of Bint Jbeil after killing more than 100 Hezbollah fighters there over the past week.

Colonel Avichay Adraee, the military’s Arabic-language spokesman, said on X that the 98th Division had completed the encirclement and begun an assault on the town. The forces killed over 100 Hezbollah fighters in face-to-face clashes and airstrikes.

Bint Jbeil, located just five kilometers from the Israeli border, has long been a symbolic and strategic flashpoint. It saw some of the fiercest fighting in the 2006 war and was where former Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah delivered his “Liberation” speech in 2000 after Israel’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah said it has been engaged in “point-blank” clashes with Israeli forces in the town for days. The Lebanese National News Agency reported intense fighting and Israeli artillery shelling at the town’s entrance on Monday.

The escalation comes as Israeli and Lebanese officials are set to hold talks in Washington on Tuesday to end the war. Lebanon was drawn into the wider conflict after Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel following US-Israeli strikes that killed Iran’s supreme leader on February 28. Israel responded with massive strikes and a ground invasion.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, visiting troops in southern Lebanon on Sunday, said Israeli forces had eliminated the threat of a Hezbollah invasion but added, “There is still more to do, and we are doing it.” Israeli officials have repeatedly said they aim to establish a security zone in south Lebanon to prevent future Hezbollah attacks.

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