Israel continued to carry out airstrikes against southern Lebanon throughout the weekend, despite Israel making much of the border dispute negotiations last week, which they claimed could lead to “normalization” between Israel and Lebanon.
At least three civilians were killed in three different drone strikes overnight Saturday into Sunday, and two others wounded. Israel claimed two of the three were “Hezbollah operatives” carrying out surveillance on the border, though both of those slain were just driving cars in villages near the border area.
The first strike was late Saturday night in Burj al-Muluk, where a drone strike hit a car traveling in the area. One person was killed, and another person was wounded in this strike.
Shortly after midnight, another drone targeted another vehicle in Yater, killing one and wounding one once again. The victim of this strike whom Israel tapped as a “Hezbollah operative,” was identified as a young civilian named Mohammad Imad Srour.
Later, a third drone strike was reported against Mays al-Jabal, killing a third person. Israel said they were targeting a Hezbollah member named Hussein Mahmoud Taha in that strike, though there is no indication he was present at the time, and other reports label the slain as yet another civilian.
Israel presented the alleged activities of the slain people in Yater in Mays al-Jabal as “a violation” of the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, though they did not mention their own violation of multiple drone strikes inside Lebanese territory, or the presence of five actively occupied military posts inside Lebanon.
Israeli DM Israel Katz tried to downplay the ongoing border dispute talks, insisting they are entirely irrelevant to the active occupation of the military posts. Katz said that Israel will remain in the posts no matter what deal is reached, and that troops will remain there “indefinitely.”
Katz has instructed the IDF to fortify those posts further and to prepare for a long-term stay.
