Report No. 37 from the Southern Lebanon Front (Map)

According to Hezbollah statements, Israeli concentrations in Wadi Raj and around the Litani River, Tallet al-Khazzan, and the Cultural Complex have been targeted with rocket and artillery fire, as well as FPV drones. Armored vehicles, including four Merkava tanks, two Jackal Humvees, one Namera armored vehicle, and one bulldozer near Bustan Zatam and the eastern areas of Zotar, have been struck by eight FPV drones, while two Merkava tanks were hit with Kornet anti-tank missiles. Armed clashes also took place near the Cultural Complex. After the Lebanese fighters’ valor, the Zionists resorted to bombing the area and deploying incendiary and smoke bombs to cover their soldiers’ retreat. Currently, the Zionists, under air and tank cover, are moving through the eastern and southern areas of Zouatar.

Israeli fighter jets are providing extensive support for this assault, carrying out airstrikes to eliminate individuals, whether military or civilian. In response, Hezbollah is utilizing all available assets along this axis, attacking Israeli forces with a variety of weapons. Reports of Israeli armored convoys moving toward the town of Mifdoun are untrue.

The Zionists have no intention of engaging in urban warfare with Hezbollah and are instead attempting to locate their positions and destroy them through airstrikes and artillery. In effect, their tactic is to rapidly traverse open routes and terrain while demolishing urban areas using airstrikes and engineering vehicles. This allows them to pass through southern Lebanese towns in the shortest possible time while avoiding falling into the trap of the resistance’s guerrilla attacks. This tactic also enables them to reach strategic high ground, from which they can monitor occupied areas and prepare for subsequent military operations.

Under such circumstances, Hezbollah must leverage the geographical conditions to create tactical chokepoints. On this axis, Wadi Raj serves as a crossing point for Israeli forces moving from north of Deir Siryan toward the south of Zouatar, making it an ideal location for Hezbollah’s guerrilla strikes. To thwart the assault on Zouatar, Hezbollah must keep this key point under fire and prevent the movement of armored and engineering convoys north of the Litani River. Otherwise, the 7-kilometer distance from Zouatar to the city of Nabatieh—one of the most important and largest Shiite cities in Lebanon—will be covered in less than a month, and the city will be devastated.