As the ground offensive continues, Israeli strikes have begun targeting bridges over the Litani River, with IDF army spokesmen citing Hezbollah smuggling routes and the need to isolate enemy movement. Two retired Lebanese Army Generals believe the move is also a concerted pressure campaign directed at the Lebanese state.
On March 13, the IDF confirmed it had struck the Zrariyeh–Tayr Falsay bridge in south Lebanon saying Hezbollah had used the bridge to move from northern to South Lebanon and prepare to confront the Israeli army.
The army spokesman added that the strike also carried a message to the Lebanese authorities that Israel would attack any infrastructure sites used by Hezbollah inside Lebanon to target Israel.
Since then, at least three other bridges and an auxilary crossing were damaged in Israeli raids, according to local and international media. They are the first instances of Israeli targeting state infrastructure since the start of this round of fighting.
Lessons from the Past
As in previous confrontations, the Israelis are advancing on three main axes. In the west, Israel made initial incursions into the villages of Labbouneh and Dhaira, in the center there has been fighting in Maroun al-Ras and Ayta Ash Shah, and north of the Golan, there are Israeli troops as far as Khiam, a hilltop village which overlooks large parts of southern Lebanon and northern Israel.
Israel has issued evacuation orders from the southern border past the Litani river to the Zahrani, a river which runs westward to the coast, just south of the prominent southern city of Saida.
“The systematic targeting of infrastructure—most notably bridges—reveals clear strategic intent,” Retired Lebanese General Khaled Hamadeh told This is Beirut, disrupting logistical efforts and enabling sustained Israeli operations.
General Hamadeh added that the destruction of bridges also “obstructs the return of displaced populations, thereby deepening the humanitarian crisis and increasing pressure on a Lebanese state already strained by profound economic collapse.”
In particular, the strike on March 17 of an auxiliary bridge over Tyre coincided with widespread evacuation orders in the city “created an atmosphere of panic among citizens unsure how to evacuate,” according to General Khalil Gemayel, former head of the South Litani sector in the Lebanese army.
He concurred with General Hamadeh, telling This is Beirut, “this is also increased pressure on the Lebanese government as infrastructure is being targeted and a city like Tyre is being partially isolated from the rest of the country.”
Broader Picture
“It is highly probable that infrastructure between Latani and Zahrani will be targeted as well soon,” General Gemayel told This is Beirut, although he stressed that the current strikes do not necessarily suggest a major ground offensive.
According to General Gemayel, “It is unlikely that IDF will take over lands where civilians remain in order not to recreate the past environment that allowed for resistance and ambushes on the ground.”
“It seems they are creating a 6km ‘isolated’ zone with scorched earth, no civilians, and military posts on hills.”
General Hamadeh, in contrast, seemed to leave the possibility of a larger invasion open, saying, “while a full-scale occupation of the area south of the Litani River may not be imminent, the degradation of critical infrastructure has historically preceded such scenarios in past conflicts.”
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