The Israeli army led more than 500 operations in southern Lebanon during the two months which followed its ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah, the inhabitants preparing for more destruction while the Israeli troops are planning to delay their withdrawal.
Israel has been conducting regular attacks since the entry into force of the ceasefire with the Lebanese militant group on November 27, after more than a year of conflict.
The ACLED non-profit organization has counted 515 operations from the start of the ceasefire until January 17. These include air strikes and drones, as well as more than 206 cases of destruction of goods in 39 villages. At least 37 people were killed, according to a statement by the Financial Times.
According to the truce, Israel had to withdraw its territory forces by Sunday. Lebanon And Hezbollah had to move its weapons north of the Litani river, which extends up to 30 km from the de facto border, to be replaced by the Lebanese armed forces. But the Israeli government said on Friday that its forces would remain in Lebanon beyond the deadline, those responsible for an extension of 30 days.
For residents of Lebanese border communities – many of which could not go home – the prospect of continuous Israeli occupation leaves them in uncertainty as to the time they can go home and what they will find when ‘They will.
“They exploited the opportunity offered by the ceasefire,” said Mohammad Srour, the mayor of Aita El-Chaab, about Israeli destruction in his border village. “Before the ceasefire, they bombed with artillery and air strikes. But after the ceasefire, they entered the village on the ground and most of the destruction occurred afterwards.
Some villagers lose patience and plan to return on Sunday, whatever the risks. “Whatever happens, it will happen,” said Najib Hussein Halawi, a local manager of Kfar Kila, another community whose residents were moved. “There is a lot of danger, but what can you do?” Do you sit there and shut up?
Israeli officials claim that their actions are in accordance with the ceasefire agreement and that they continue to act because Hezbollah still has agents and infrastructure in the region, while the army N ‘has not yet been deployed in sufficient numbers to prevent activists from entering.
Unable to return to his village, Srour looked for refuge further north, but he was in contact with his family and friends who returned to inspect the damage.
“AITA is a disaster,” he said about the village, which remains under Israeli occupation near the border, the “blue line” delimited by the UN which separates the two countries. He said most of the houses had been damaged, that the infrastructure had been destroyed in the bulldozer and that everything, from places of worship to schools, had been scratched from the card.
Hezbollah warned Israel not to test its “patience” and launched rockets last month to Israeli positions in the disputed territory of chebaa farms because of what it called “repeated” violations of the ceasefire The fever.
The new Lebanese president, Joseph Aoun, also said this month that “bombing houses and destroying border villages is completely in contradiction with the ceasefire”. The UN peacekeeping force has described the Israeli bulldozer to an army observation of the army and a border border of the UN of “flagrant violation” this month. The Israeli army said this episode was a mistake.
The Israeli army denied having violated the ceasefire and said that its actions in Lebanon were in “strict compliance” with international law and the agreement. He accuses Hezbollah of having violated the ceasefire “hundreds of times” and of using civil infrastructure for military purposes.
“These operations are defensive and necessary measures aimed at neutralizing the immediate dangers for the security of Israel,” he said.
On Thursday, he said that Hezbollah used Aita to “store weapons and as a basis to draw hundreds of anti -tank rockets and missiles” and that the troops had carried out operations to “eliminate threats”. He said he found more than 30 weapons caches, with weapons stored in “residential buildings, courses, children’s gardens and basements”.
The inhabitants say that Israeli demolitions are a daily fact. Images taken by residents around Naqoura, another border village in December and early January show Israeli bulldozers apparently demolishing houses.
The Fal entered Naqoura the January 7 But Abbas Awada, the mayor, said that the inhabitants were waiting for the army to announce that it had withdrawn all the unploded ammunition before returning.
Before the ceasefire was concluded, Israeli forces already had systematically destroyed buildings near the border. Although they have withdrawn from more than a dozen villages along the west and center of the border, they remain in most of the eastern part.
The owner of a local company, Musa Hayouk, lost his house, as well as a chicken farm and a wood park in Aita shortly after the start of the ceasefire. Having already fled the city to the southern suburbs of Beirut, he saw the destruction thanks to the images of other inhabitants who briefly returned to inspect the village.
The Israeli operation is equivalent to a collective punishment against the inhabitants, whether or not they are linked to Hezbollah, “said Hayouk:” Their objectives are well known and we understand them. »»
The conflict started after Hezbollah began to shoot Israel following the attack on Hamas on October 7, 2023 in southern Israel. A year of cross -border fire was dramatically intensified when Israel launched a terrestrial invasion and a devastating offensive against Hezbollah in October of last year.
More than 4,000 people in Lebanon and 140 Israelis were killed in the conflict. About a million people were moved to Lebanon and 60,000 in Israel.
Ramzi Kaiss, a researcher at Human Rights Watch, said that the presence of the military infrastructure of Hezbollah did not justify many of the actions of Israel with regard to international law.
“Even if there are military objectives in these villages, such as tunnels used by Hezbollah, serious questions arise as to whether such a level of destruction was necessary,” he said. “Whole border villages, contrary to what some Israeli officials would like to claim, cannot be considered as military objectives. »»
Some of the most intense demolitions took place in the village of Halawi, Kfar Kila. “There are explosions every day,” said Halawi. He estimated that a large part of the damage occurred after the ceasefire. Israel “crosses many borders,” he said.
