Lebanese Hezbollah announced on Monday that an Israeli airstrike targeted the town of Kharbet Salam in southern Lebanon, resulting in the death of a prominent field commander within the Lebanese Hezbollah organization.
In an official statement, Hezbollah eulogized the slain commander, “With great pride and honor, the Islamic Resistance mourns the martyr, the mujahid leader, Wissam Hassan Touil, also known as ‘Al-Haj Jawad,’ from the town of Kharbet Salam in South Lebanon, who ascended as a martyr on the path to Jerusalem.”
Earlier on Saturday, January 6th, the Israeli military acknowledged launching approximately 40 rockets at the Meron area in Upper Galilee, without commenting on any human casualties.
Hezbollah described the targeted “Meron Air Monitoring Base” as “Israel’s eyes over Lebanon and the Mediterranean coast.”
The base, crucial for long-range radar detection, drone control, and intelligence gathering, is located about 8 kilometers from the Lebanese border, standing 1200 meters above sea level and covering an area of 160,000 square meters.
According to Hezbollah, the primary function of the base is to organize, coordinate, and manage air operations towards Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, and the northern eastern Mediterranean basin.
Footage showed the Israeli air base being struck by numerous rockets, directly hitting including the radar detection domes.
Hezbollah claimed it targeted the “Meron” base in Northern Israel with 62 rockets in a “preliminary response” to the assassination of Saleh Al-Arouri, the deputy head of Hamas’ political bureau, days earlier in Beirut’s southern suburbs.
The borders between Lebanon and Israel are currently witnessing tension and sporadic exchanges of fire between the Israeli military and Hezbollah, following the onset of the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip.
The conflict has led to over 22,000 civilian Palestinian deaths, with more than 50,000 injured, predominantly women and children. The war has also resulted in the complete or partial destruction of over 60 percent of the buildings in the Gaza Strip.
