Hezbollah leader says attack on the group's communication devices was a 'severe blow' that crossed a 'red line'

Associated Press

BEIRUT (AP) — Hezbollah leader says attack on the group's communication devices was a 'severe blow' that crossed a 'red line.'

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save Lebanon before it falls into the abyss of a long war that will lead to destruction and suffering like we see in Gaza," he said in a video address."I say to you, the people of Lebanon: Free your country from Hezbollah so that this war can end."As Israel battles Hamas in Gaza, it also aims to secure its northern border to allow tens of thousands of Israelis displaced by the cross-border fire to return home.Both Hamas and Hezbollah have vowed to keep up their attacks, with Hezbollah's deputy leader Naim Qassem on Tuesday saying the group would make it impossible for Israelis to return to the north.Israel has intensified strikes on Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon since September 23, leaving more than 1,150 people dead and forcing more than a million to flee.Most of its strikes have targeted southern and eastern Lebanon, as well as south Beirut.- Evacuation warning -Israel's military said Tuesday it was broadening its offensive.On its Telegram channel, the military said its 146th Division began "limited, localised, targeted operational activities" against Hezbollah in Lebanon's southwest.A day earlier, it had warned people to stay away from the southern part of Lebanon's Mediterranean coast, with a spokesman saying Israel would "soon operate in the maritime area against Hezbollah's terrorist activities" south of the Awali river.In Sidon, fishermen stayed ashore and the seafood market was unusually quiet."If we don't go out to sea, we won't be able to feed ourselves," said one of them, Issam Haboush.The Israeli military on Tuesday said it hit Hezbollah's south Beirut bastion, where a strike last month killed the militant group's leader Hassan Nasrallah.It later said it dismantled a Hezbollah tunnel leading from Lebanon into Israel.Hezbollah said it repelled Israeli troops who "infiltrated from behind" a UN peacekeepers' position in the southern border village of Labboune.- Hezbollah defiant -Hezbollah's deputy leader said that despite Israel's "painful" strikes, 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