Latest news with #Labbouneh
LBCI
3 days ago
- Politics
- LBCI
Israel tests boundaries in Lebanon with new ground incursions and offenses
Report by Wissam Nasrallah, English adaptation by Laetithia Harb The Israeli military has acknowledged conducting a recent ground incursion into southern Lebanon, citing the need for "targeted operations" to destroy weapons and prevent Hezbollah from regrouping in the area. According to Israel's army, the operation focused on a site in the Jabal Blat region that allegedly housed weapons depots and Hezbollah firing posts, as well as hidden arms in the area of Labbouneh. These were the objectives Israeli forces claimed to have destroyed during the raid. However, both Jabal Blat and Labbouneh are among five Lebanese locations Israel has occupied ahead of the current ceasefire agreement took effect. The weapons seen in the published photos are the kind more commonly associated with family disputes in Lebanon. The Israeli army's deployment of two separate brigades to seize a Kalashnikov and a B7 in a territory it has already occupied for months is being seen less as a military achievement and more as a calculated show of force — a message that it can operate whenever and however, it chooses. This is not the first time Israel has violated Lebanese territory since the ceasefire. Previously, the Israeli army entered the town of Meiss El Jabal, where it dug trenches and set up barriers. In Houla, they demolished a home and posted a sign warning residents not to allow Hezbollah to use their properties. Through repeated incursions and violations, Israel is attempting to establish a new reality on the ground, testing the limits of its freedom to maneuver inside Lebanese territory — and Hezbollah's patience along with it.
Khaleej Times
4 days ago
- Politics
- Khaleej Times
Israel army says launched 'special, targeted operations' in south Lebanon
Israel's military said on Wednesday its troops entered southern Lebanon as part of targeted operations to dismantle infrastructure belonging to the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah. "Following intelligence information and the identification of Hezbollah weapons and terrorist infrastructure in several areas of southern Lebanon, the soldiers launched special, targeted operations to dismantle them and prevent Hezbollah from reestablishing itself in the area," an army statement said. The military did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment on whether this was the first time Israeli troops had operated on the ground in Lebanon since a November ceasefire. But the army shared a video captioned "footage from a targeted nighttime operation of the 9th Brigade in southern Lebanon", showing troops walking on the ground. AFP was unable to verify the footage, the time or location it was shot. The army statement said the 9th Brigade was in the Labbouneh area, just over the border. Troops from the 300th Brigade operated in the Jabal Blat area further west, also within sight of the frontier. Despite a November truce with Hezbollah, Israel has kept up its strikes on Lebanon, mainly saying it is targeting the group's sites and operatives but also occasionally members of their Palestinian ally Hamas. The November 27 ceasefire sought to end more than a year of hostilities with Hezbollah, including two months of all-out war that left the group severely weakened. Under the ceasefire deal, Hezbollah was to pull its fighters back north of the Litani river, about 30 kilometres from the Israeli border, leaving the Lebanese army and United Nations peacekeepers as the only armed parties in the region. Israel was required to fully withdraw its troops from the country but has kept them in five places it deems strategic.
