Heavy clashes resumed after a precarious calm on Tuesday morning on Lebanon’s southern border, punctuated with overflights by Israeli reconnaissance aircraft.
In the morning, the area around the villages of Ramia and Aita Al-Chaab was shelled with phosphoric shells.
The Israeli army then shelled the area around the village of Blida. Following this bombardment, Hezbollah claimed to have discovered an ambush by an Israeli military force on the reservoir hill near the Al-Assi site and to have targeted it with guided missiles, causing deaths and injuries among Israeli troops.
At around 2 p.m. on Tuesday, Israeli bombardments resumed in the vicinity of the village of Marwahin. Incendiary shell fire targeted the forests near Alma Al-Chaab. The Wadi Al-Aliq area, located between Marwahin and Yastan, was also shelled with incendiary and phosphoric shells.
In addition, Israeli drones fired four missiles at Hezbollah’s “Garden of Iran” in Maroun Al-Rass.
Earlier in the morning, the Israeli army declared on Platform X that it had used fighter jets to attack and destroy Hezbollah infrastructure and weapons on Lebanese territory.
It also reported that thousands of people had left their homes in southern Lebanon over the past two weeks out of fear that Hezbollah might instigate conflict. The Israeli army also mentioned that numerous messages were being conveyed to Hezbollah’s Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah, urging him not to jeopardize Lebanon’s security.
On the night from Monday to Tuesday, Israel expanded the scope of its attacks in the south. Fighter planes and helicopter gunships carried out bombings and airstrikes, targeting the vicinity of Naqoura, Alma al-Shaab, Rmeish, Ad-Dahiriya, Shaykin, Yater, as well as the nearby valleys of Zebqin and Jabal al-Batm. Guided missiles landed close to residential areas in the town of Barshit, inflicting serious damage on a house. The intensity of the bombardments set off alarm sirens at the posts of the UN peacekeeping Force in South Lebanon (UNIFIL) several times during the night.
The Israeli bombardment also targeted villages near the Blue Line, as well as the area around a Lebanese army position. Flare bombs and phosphorus bombs were launched by the Israeli army, particularly affecting the villages of Ramia and Aita al-Shaab, causing forest fires.
Several fires were caused by Israeli shelling in the Al-Labouna forest, spreading later to the outskirts of Naqoura.
Caretaker Minister of Agriculture Abbas al-Hajj Hassan said that “the Israeli army intentionally ignited fires using internationally prohibited white phosphorus bombs, causing the destruction of more than 40,000 ancient olive trees in southern Lebanon.”
