Israel DM Says No Time Limit to Occupation of Southern Lebanon as Strikes Continue

During a visit to the border village of Margaliot, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz urged northern Israelis to return to their communities by assuring them that Israeli troops would continue to occupy military outposts inside Lebanese territory, insisting that the occupation has no “time limit.”

Large numbers of Israelis to the southern parts of the country in the lead up to September’s invasion of Lebanon, and many have been resistant to the idea of returning home. The government is pushing the narrative that it is perfectly safe, though not because there have effectively been no rockets successfully fired into Israel during the ceasefire.

Rather, the government is pushing the idea that their occupation of southern Lebanon is open ended, so it’s safe in that respect. Local political figures may be adding to the resistance toward returning by condemning the ceasefire and arguing that the invasion should just be continuing outright.

Though the ceasefire is not restricting the occupation, Israel isn’t actively seizing new towns or villages inside Lebanon right now. At the same time, they’ve attacked Lebanon hundreds of times with airstrike since the ceasefire began, including two attacks in the capital city of Beirut just in the past week.

Those attacks continued today, with reports of multiple attacks inside southern Lebanon. Israeli warplanes carried out a raid against a paramedic center in the town of Naqoura effectively destroying the building. Two ambulances and a fire truck were also damaged in the attack and at least two were reported wounded.

A drone strike was also reported in the border village of Ayta ash-Shaab, injuring one person. The IDF claimed the attack targeted a “Hezbollah operative,” but there is no confirmation of the identity of the wounded person.

The attacks in southern Lebanon are so common as to happen effectively daily. The attacks further north, particularly around Beirut, raise concerns this is an escalatory phase in a war that, despite the ceasefire, never really ended.

Israeli troops are occupying five military outposts they hastily constructed during the ceasefire and which they’ve since insisted they intend on retaining, despite the terms of the ceasefire obligating them to withdraw. There are reports that construction is continuing in and around the outposts, expanding the territory they effectively control.