Messages attached to balloons have begun landing in southern Lebanon, demanding that the locals, those not already displaced by the ongoing attacks and looming threat of large-scale war, “evacuate immediately,” declaring the land “belongs to Jews.”
It is not clear who sent the balloons, but the immediate suspicion is on radical settler groups, the same groups that are loudly lobbying Israel not only to invade and occupy Lebanon, but to convert southern Lebanon into another territory of settlements.
The messages don’t identify who is dispatching the balloons but they are written in both Hebrew and Arabic. They landed in villages across southern Lebanon and include a map of Lebanon in the message.
While bellicose rhetoric from settler groups is nothing new, the timing makes this particularly grim, coming as Israel is openly talking about an invasion of Lebanon, and members of the far-right Israeli government talking about making occupation of its south permanent.
The balloons come into Lebanon alongside Israeli warplanes. An overnight attack on the city of Nabatieh alone wounded 21 people. According to reports, the attack leveled a residential building, wounding 7 people within, and 14 others from the ensuing panic.
Israel attacks Nabatieh, and the surrounding towns and villages in southern Lebanon, on a regular basis. The Israeli government did not comment on the overnight attack or what it intended to accomplish by hitting a residence.
