With a number of new Israeli ceasefire violations being reported daily, Lebanon’s government has taken the matter to the UN Security Council, lodging a formal complaint. The details include complaints of Israeli troops shooting at journalists in southern Lebanon, and removing demarcation markers along the de facto border.
Israel has yet to respond to the complaints, and continues to carry out overt violations of the ceasefire, which was initially a 60-day period from November 26 to January 26 after which Israel was meant to withdraw. The “ceasefire” was ultimately extended until February 18 after Israel decided they intended to stay.
There is considerable doubt at this point whether they’ll actually leave by February 18 either, though they have pulled out of a handful of additional villages and the southern town of Taybeh. Like other places Israel withdrew from previously, Taybeh has sustained massive destruction, with a number of buildings leveled and much of the infrastructure destroyed.
On Tuesday, the destruction seemed to focus on the village of Houla, where Israeli troops are burning homes and uprooting trees. Setting fire to homes in the villages closest to the border has become a recurring issue, as Israel continues to insist it’s not yet safe for civilians to try to return to those homes that they have yet to destroy.
Perhaps the largest incident so far Tuesday though was on the outskirts of Ayta ash-Shab, a village Israeli troops recently left, and which like the others is mostly destroyed. Rescue workers near the village were removing rubble from the roads and recovering dead bodies early in the day, but were chased out of the area after an Israeli drone arrived and dropped sound bombs near them. No major casualties were reported in that incident.
A US-led body is meant to oversee the ceasefire in Lebanon and deal with complaints about violations, though so far they have done nothing regarding the hundreds of incidents involving Israeli troops attacking civilians or destroying infrastructure. Instead, US officials have praised Israel for the “very positive path” they’re on with respect to an eventual withdrawal.
