Israel Says Troops Fighting Hizbollah Surrounded Key Lebanese Town

(MENAFN- Jordan Times) OCCUPIED JERUSALEM - The Israeli military said on Monday its troops had completely surrounded a key town in southern Lebanon after killing more than 100 Hizbollah fighters there over the past week.

The announcement marks a significant advance in Israel's ongoing invasion of southern Lebanon.

Over the past week, Israeli forces have killed more than 100 Hizbollah fighters in and around the town in "face-to-face" clashes and with air strikes, he said.

The Iran-backed Hizbollah said it has been engaged for days in clashes with Israeli forces in Bint Jbeil.

Just five kilometres from the Israeli border, Bint Jbeil has long been both a symbolic and strategic flashpoint in confrontations between Israeli forces and Hezbollah.

It was the scene of some of the fiercest fighting during the 2006 war, when Hezbollah's resistance there became central to the group's narrative of defiance.

It was from the stadium in Bint Jbeil in 2000 that the group's former chief Hassan Nasrallah delivered the "Liberation" speech following Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon after 22 years of occupation.

On Thursday, Hizbollah said it was engaged in "point-blank" clashes with Israeli forces in the town.

Since then, the group has repeatedly reported targeting Israeli forces and vehicles there, most recently on Sunday, when the state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported "intense clashes" in the town.

On Monday, the NNA reported Israeli artillery shelling at the town's entrance.

The escalation in Bint Jbeil comes as diplomatic efforts to contain the cross-border fighting have risen over the past few days.

Israeli and Lebanese officials are set to hold talks on Tuesday in Washington to end the war.

Lebanon was pulled into the Middle East war when Hizbollah fired rockets at Israel after US-Israeli strikes killed Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei on February 28.

Israel responded with massive strikes and a ground invasion.

During a visit to troops in southern Lebanon on Sunday, prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israeli forces had eliminated the threat of an invasion by Hizbollah fighters.

But he added: "There is still more to do, and we are doing it."

Israeli officials have repeatedly said that Israel wants to establish a "security zone" in south Lebanon to help prevent Hizbollah attacks.

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