Beginning late Friday evening, Israel launched a flurry of new airstrikes against targets in southern and eastern Lebanon, including a major attack near Tyre and another in the Bekaa Valley. All told, at least five people were killed and 24 others wounded.
The attacks started with a strike against a motorcycle in Nabatieh District, and killed two people who were riding on the bike. Later, a substantial strike was reported against a house in Rmadiyeh, in the Tyre District, killing three other people, including a child, and wounding dozens of others, including women and children.
The house in Rmadiyeh was reportedly sheltering civilians displaced from further south in Lebanon. Additional strikes were reported in Bekaa Valley, though tolls from those, if any, were not clear.
Nabatieh District, South Lebanon: An Israeli warplane carried out a heavy airstrike on the outskirts of Deir al-Zahrani in southern Lebanon, reportedly targeting a two-story building. | Abdul Kader Al Bay/ZUMA Press Wire)
These attacks come just 24 hours after Israel declared total control over Ali al-Taher Ridge, an area north of Nabatieh they claimed to have been contesting with Hezbollah. Hezbollah has not commented on the matter.
As Israel continues to expand its control ever-deeper into southern Lebanon, Israel’s Kan News is reporting that Israel is actively considering pulling back from its northernmost holdings, creating a new “Grey Line” to replace the current Yellow Line that they’ve already expanded the occupation beyond, and keeping the occupation forces within the 3-4 kilometer zone south of that new line.
That doesn’t fit with Israel’s current actions, which are pushing into territory far beyond the original Yellow Line zone established, and Israeli officials have yet to confirm that plan is actually under serious consideration, with some reports suggesting the Israeli defense officials have yet to submit it to the politicians for approval at any rate.
Meanwhile, this weekend is punctuated by deadly new attacks, as well as the ongoing explosions that are destroying multiple towns and villages in Lebanon’s south, setting the stage for a post-war reconstruction that will be of an enormous and growing scope.
