Though the November 26 ceasefire was meant to end the Israeli invasion and occupation of Lebanese territory, Israeli troops never completely left. On Monday, they expanded that occupation once again, pushing deeper into the Marjayoun District.
Israeli troops and civilian administrators advanced along the river near the village of Wazzani. They also reportedly advanced further west and opened fire on people on the outskirts of Ayta ash-Shaab, and conducted “search operations” in the area.
Details are still emerging on what they’re doing and why, but the most significant part of this further invasion of Lebanese territory is that Israel has not publicly commented on the matter at all, not even offering the sorts of flimsy pretexts they generally give for violations of the ceasefire.
This is just another of well over 1,400 ceasefire violations which Lebanon has reported to the enforcement body, which is run by the United States and France. France has criticized Israel for violations at times, while the US has simply pressured Lebanon to make even further concessions and vowed to block international reconstruction aid until Israel is satisfied.
Besides the new advancement of ground troops, Israeli forces have continued to carry out airstrikes on a near daily basis. On Sunday they launched a drone strike against the outskirts of the town Yohmor.
The incident that’s most likely to fuel international condemnation, though, came in Yaroun, in the Nabatieh Governorate. Also on Sunday, which was the Christian holiday of Palm Sunday, Israeli military forces entered the area with military bulldozers and demolished a statue of Saint George, a Christian saint.
The statue incident has been widely criticized in the Christian world because of the timing, and amounted to not just another violation of the ceasefire, but a violation of religious rights of the Lebanese Christian community.
Saint George is considered the patron saint of England, along with Ukraine, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Georgia and Ethiopia. He is also considered the patron saint of the Lebanese capital city of Beirut. A third century soldier in the Roman Army, he was executed for refusing to recant his Christian faith, and is thus considered a martyr. It is held that he is buried in Lod, a city near Tel Aviv in central Israel.
Particularly noteworthy is that the video of the bulldozer destroying the statue was taken by the Israeli operating the bulldozer at the time. The IDF has not made any statement regarding the demolition, and it indeed may be difficult to justify invading a Lebanese town and destroying a statue of a Christian saint having anything to do with Hezbollah, their go-to justification for violations.
Israel cannot keep taking what does not belong to them!….
"Nope, nope, 2nd book of Kings CLEARLY states "modern day southern Lebanon belongs to the Israelites", ask our religious lawyers who recently retranslated the copy of the copy of the copy we have."
https://www.amazon.com/Prophet-Kahlil-Gibran/dp/B001AGWEMK
Why not? They can. No one is stopping them. Trump just sent Israel more super duper weapons.
"Israeli troops and civilian administrators advanced along the river near the village of Wazzani."
I don't know what's more frightening – the IDF on a warpath, or the advance of committees, Human Resources reps, middle managers, Efficiency Coordinators, and whatever other labyrinthine bureaucratic minions "civilian administrators" includes.
"Saint George is considered the patron saint of England"
Side note – WHY is George the patron saint of England ? The whole "dragon" myth didn't take place anywhere near the UK (with the "dragon" most likely a crocodile or monitor lizard either in North Africa or Mideast)
Why? the same as St. Christopher is the patron saint of surfers. In fact I have an icon of St. George right over my computer.
I thought Chris was the patron saint of travelers. I mean, no reason he can’t be both or more; lots of Greek, Roman, Norse, Mesopotamian deities wore plenty of hats !
In So. Cal, beach combers with their metal detectors find St. Christopher medals all the time. My gf found one at La Jolla shores years ago, she still has it.
That’s really cool !
I am hopeful they are not still worn by the skeletons of unsuccessful surfers !
Trashing St. George's statue is just the beginning of cleansing Israel of all other religions and their icons to make way for a one religion/people state. You ain't seen nothing yet. The tomb of Jesus, will also be destroyed, eventually along with all the others. And, yet there's no protest from the Vatican or other religions, even when Israel bombed the Baptist hospital on Palm Sunday. Evil is covering all institutions, both religious and secular alike.