Hezbollah, Israeli troops clash on the ground in eastern Lebanon’s Bekaa

Clashes have erupted as Israeli forces attempted a landing operation along the Lebanon-Syria border, with the armed group Hezbollah saying its fighters were involved, according to Lebanese state-run National News Agency (NNA), as this fierce front in the wider regional war launched by the United States and Israel boils over.

The Lebanese Health Ministry says at least 16 people were killed and 35 were wounded in Israeli air raids on the town of Nabi Chit, in the eastern Bekaa Valley.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, which has launched numerous deadly attacks and sent ground troops into southern Lebanon, but not further north in the east, since the Iran-aligned Lebanese group Hezbollah fired missiles at Israel on Monday to avenge the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, joining the war.

This latest reported raid would be the deepest Israeli forces’ incursion inside Lebanon since special unit troops apprehended Hezbollah operative Imad Amhaz from the northern city of Batroun in November 2024.

The NNA said, “Clashes are taking place on the eastern mountain range along the Lebanese-Syrian border … to repel Israeli landing attempts.”

‘Infiltration from the Syrian direction’

The agency gave the location of the incursion as Nabi Chit, in the eastern Baalbek district where Hezbollah holds sway.

Hezbollah said in a statement that its fighters had “observed the infiltration of four Israeli enemy army helicopters from the Syrian direction”.

After landing, advancing troops “were engaged by a group” of Hezbollah fighters as they reached the Nabi Chit cemetery, Hezbollah said, noting the use of light and medium weapons.

“The clash escalated after the enemy force was exposed,” it added, saying the Israeli troops launched intense strikes and began to evacuate.

A separate statement said Hezbollah fighters had fired rockets as the Israeli forces withdrew.

Fighters “targeted the evacuation zone in the outskirts of the town of Nabi Chit with rocket fire”, the group said.

Footage shared on social media showed waves of gunfire in the air.

Nabi Chit was the target of at least 13 Israeli air strikes on Friday, according to the NNA, with the Lebanese Health Ministry reporting at least nine people killed.

Lebanon on Monday banned military activities by Hezbollah, but its fighters continue to launch missiles on Israel.

Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr, reporting from the Bekaa Valley in eastern Lebanon, says the Lebanese government is in a difficult position after Hezbollah entered the war and continued its military activities despite the ban.

“Just a few weeks ago, the Lebanese army claimed that it was in operational control over the south of the country,” she said.

“The very fact that Hezbollah fighters are on the front lines in those border villages, engaging in direct combat with the Israeli army, shows that Hezbollah is the most powerful force in that area,” Khodr stressed.

The southern suburbs of Beirut have been under relentless Israeli bombardment for days, forcing the mass exodus of tens of thousands from the densely populated neighbourhood of Dahiyeh.

In the past week, the Israeli military has threatened large-scale enforced evacuation order ⁠for southern Lebanon as well, causing a huge exodus of civilians from these areas.

The death toll from Israeli attacks on Lebanon this week has risen to at least 217 people, the Lebanese Health Ministry said on Friday, adding that an additional 798 people have been wounded and an estimated 95,000 displaced.

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said “the consequences of this displacement, at the humanitarian and political level, may well be unprecedented.

“Our country has been drawn into a devastating war that we did not seek and did not choose,” he added.