By Jason Ditz / Antiwar.com
In the largest series of attacks against Lebanon since the November ceasefire, Israel has carried out dozens of airstrikes against areas around the border in southern Lebanon. Nearly 30 airstrikes have been confirmed.
Casualty figures are still not confirmed, but one civilian was killed and another wounded in a drone strike against a car in the town of Khirbet Selm. Three civilians were also shot in the border village of Kfar Kela by Israeli troops firing across the border.
Several towns and villages along the border reported airstrikes on the outskirts of the area, though many of them targeted uninhabited areas. Israel claims that they were targeting “terror infrastructure” that they believe Hezbollah was trying to reconstruct.
Since it was outside of the towns and the strikes were carried out overnight, it’s possible that nobody was present at many of these sites, so the casualty figures may be surprisingly low given the scope of the attack.
Israel argues that the presence of Hezbollah “infrastructure” and their allegations that the infrastructure was being rehabilitated amount to a “blatant violation” of the ceasefire.
Like a lot of Israel’s allegations of ceasefire violations, there is little to no evidence anything wrong was actively being done by anyone in the area. By contrast, dozens of Israeli airstrikes, drone strikes and shooting civilians along the border would plainly be contrary to the intentions of the ceasefire.
Since the November 26 ceasefire, Hezbollah has not fired rockets against Israel nor targeted Israeli occupation forces inside Lebanon. Israel retains a military presence at five hilltop surveillance posts inside Lebanon, an arrangement which the Lebanese government did not agree to, and which they continue to push the international community to end.
Please share this story and help us grow our network!
Editor’s Note: At a moment when the once vaunted model of responsible journalism is overwhelmingly the play thing of self-serving billionaires and their corporate scribes, alternatives of integrity are desperately needed, and ScheerPost is one of them. Please support our independent journalism by contributing to our online donation platform, Network for Good, or send a check to our new PO Box. We can’t thank you enough, and promise to keep bringing you this kind of vital news.
You can also make a donation to our PayPal or subscribe to our Patreon.
Jason Ditz
Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.