The situation on the Lebanon-Israel border continues to worsen, and the ceasefire that’s been in place since November 26 seems increasingly irrelevant with daily attacks. Overnight, Israeli ground troops with tanks and armored vehicles crossed the border and entered some Lebanese villages.
Details are still emerging about the raid, what they intended to accomplish and what, if any, casualties were inflicted. The villages hit were reported Dhayra and Alma El-Chaeb, which are in the Tyre District of southern Lebanon.
Israel has yet to comment on the cross border raid, which is unusual given the apparent seriousness of the matter. Israel doesn’t comment on every single airstrike or assassination they carried out inside Lebanon, but if tanks are rolling, it would be rare for them to not comment at all.
An Israeli drone strike unrelated to the incursion was reported further east on the border, targeting a building in Mays al-Jabal. One person was injured, identified as a Lebanese civil defense worker. Israel has not commented on that strike, either.
Israel has committed over 2,700 violations of the ceasefire since it began, killing over 190 people. Israel maintains that 140 Hezbollah operatives are among the slain, though the evidence from Lebanese officials point to a much larger percentage of the slain being civilian bystanders.
Israel has been under growing pressure for the evidence of war crimes related to their attacks on civilians inside Lebanon. This appears to extend to pressure for the US to stop supplying Israel with weapons used in such strikes, though there is little sign the US is considering halting such shipments, and Israel’s overnight invasion suggests that if anything they’re continuing to escalate the situation with Lebanon.
Lebanon has been under pressure to disarm Hezbollah, though Hezbollah suggests that they’re not going to do so as long as Israel continues to occupy parts of southern Lebanon and violate Lebanese airspace.
Iran’s Ambassador recently spoke out in comments that were interpreted as opposing Hezbollah’s disarmament for the sake of the region, though he did not mention Hezbollah by name. Lebanese officials have criticized those comments, saying the disarmament talks are an internal matter.
Lebanese officials have also recently warned that Israel’s belligerence is slowing their efforts to try to deploy the Lebanese Army in the south, as was required by the ceasefire, as they cannot safely move into areas still under active occupation or facing constant bombardment.
