Media: Hezbollah transforms villages into fortified strongholds PHOTO / VIDEO

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has announced that dozens of weapons left behind by Hezbollah militants have been found in residential houses in southern Lebanon.

Israeli soldiers are conducting limited, localized, and targeted ground raids in villages based on precise intelligence data, Caliber.Az reports, citing IDF.

During these operations carried out over the past 24 hours, troops discovered and seized numerous weapons hidden within buildings and houses of civilians in southern Lebanon. Among the recovered items were missile launchers aimed at Israeli territory, anti-tank missiles, firearms, observation posts, and an explosive device concealed in the area.

Israeli bombing caused large explosions in Beirut, including one close to the international airport during a further night of air strikes targeting Hezbollah.  

The airport borders Dahieh, Hezbollah's stronghold in the capital. Plumes of smoke could be seen over the city on October 4 morning.   US outlets citing Israeli officials reported the target was Hashem Safieddine, a cousin of Hezbollah's former leader Hassan Nasrallah. Safieddine has been widely regarded as the most likely candidate to replace Nasrallah after his death in an Israeli strike last week.  

Lebanon's public health ministry said 37 people had been killed in ground and air attacks in the last 24 hours while 151 others had been wounded.   Elsewhere, the Lebanese army said two of its soldiers had been killed in the country's south as Israeli forces pressed on with their invasion against Hezbollah and ordered another 20 towns and villages to evacuate.

By Naila Huseynova