For a country that’s the target of on-again, off-again Israeli invasions, the Lebanese military has historically had little to no involvement in actually fighting them. That may be about to change, however, following a deadly Israeli raid on the Lebanese border town of Blida overnight.
Israeli ground troops crossed the border and entered a municipal building, where they stayed for roughly two and a half hours. Locals reported hearing screams from the building, and after they withdrew, the body of a municipal worker was recovered.
The worker, identified as Ibrahim Salameh, was reportedly sleeping at the facility when the IDF arrived and killed him. The IDF confirmed the incident, but claimed the sleeping “suspect” posed an immediate threat to the invading troops.
The IDF claimed they were in the building to destroy Hezbollah infrastructure, though as usual they provided no evidence that was actually the case. The only thing we know for sure about their foray into Blida is they killed a civilian government employee. He was sleeping in a room in the building, and his mattress is now soaked with his blood.
Just one killing out of many during the ceasefire, but it seems like increasingly Lebanon is getting impatient, with President Joseph Aoun now instructing the Lebanese Army to “confront” any future incursions by Israeli ground troops.
That’s a major change, as while Lebanese military has been targeted by the IDF at times, the reverse has never been true, and the Lebanese Army has everywhere and always stood back while Israeli invaded to “fight Hezbollah.”
The fact that Hezbollah is this case boiled down to a sleeping municipal worker may change things, though it remains to be seen if and when the Lebanese Army will actually run into invading Israeli ground troops.
Elsewhere in southern Lebanon, the IDF carried out two drone strikes against Mahmoudiyeh and Jarmaq, reportedly also attacks on “Hezbollah infrastructure” though also without any evidence as to what was actually targeted.
