The Lebanese Army was in the south of the country near Aitaroun today, removing concrete barriers set up by the IDF just days prior. The barriers blocked multiple roads leading to the farmland south of the village, and included signs warning “danger of death” for farmers who attempted to access their fields.
The army reported removing both concrete blocks and the piles of dirt that the IDF moved into the roads, and said they were accompanied by UNIFIL peacekeepers for the operation.
Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon have continued apace, with multiple incidents most days. In the past 24 hours Israel has carried out airstrikes against Nabatiyeh, and released video of a ground operation adjacent to Shebaa Farms.
In both cases, the IDF purported that the operation targeted Hezbollah, presenting the strikes on Nabatiyeh as targeting “Hezbollah infrastructure” and the one near Shebaa Farms as meant to prevent Hezbollah from establishing a foothold in the region.
These attacks continue in spite of a ceasefire reached in November of 2024. Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes on Lebanon since the ceasefire, and the Lebanese Health Ministry has documented at least 270 people killed in those strikes. Hezbollah, by contrast, has not fired a single rocket at Israel since the ceasefire went into effect.
That’s not stopped Israel from claiming Hezbollah violations on a constant basis, though they provide no evidence. Moreover, Israel has consistently claimed everyone they killed to be Hezbollah leaders of some form or other, though the UN has confirmed at least 103 civilians among them.
Hopes of Israel ever complying with the ceasefire seem to be fading as well, as US envoy Tom Barrack reportedly told Lebanese officials that Israel had rejected a proposal for direct negotiations because the proposal came with an expectation Israel would stop attacking during the talks and ultimately withdraw its ground troops from Lebanese soil. Both expectations were already built into the ceasefire, though seemingly the US, which was meant to oversee that ceasefire, has chosen to ignore that.
