Overnight, Israel carried out a cross-border ground operation into southern Lebanon, with over 50 soldiers, backed by vehicles and bringing bulldozers with them, entered Lebanon in the area just east of Blida.
The area was roughly the same place, between Blida and Mays al-Jabal, where Israeli troops set up roadblocks late last month. Israeli troops removed the roadblocks, and this time used the bulldozers for “excavation” work, digging a trench in that area. The troops ultimately returned to Israel.
Israeli troops just wandering across the border and setting up roadblocks isn’t that unusual these days, and indeed another, smaller incursion was seen this week near Houla, where a roadblock was set up that the Lebanese Army also removed. The trench will be a much bigger hassle.
Such incursions are just part of the continued Israeli flouting of the ceasefire, which also includes them occupying on a more or less permanent basis five outposts they built inside Lebanon during the ceasefire, and thousands of airstrikes against Lebanon since the ceasefire went into effect, killing hundreds.
An Israeli raid was reported against the area around al-Chehabiyeh, further to the west in southern Lebanon, which killed at least one person and wounded several others. This was separate from the previously reported strike against Shebaa, which killed two people, a shepherd father and his son.
There has been no official Israeli comment on the latest incident, but Israel launches several strikes against Lebanon virtually every day, and when they do comment on them, as with yesterday’s Shebaa attacks, the IDF virtually always claims they were “terrorists” of some form or another.
