Israel has more than doubled the number of troops along its border with Lebanon since March 1 and is raiding houses in southern Lebanese villages already emptied after residents were ordered to withdraw, said a senior Israeli commander on Wednesday (the 18th).
While Israeli warplanes bombed Beirut in operations against Hezbollah — which have become the deadliest development of the United States and Israel’s war against Iran — dense smoke could be seen rising from villages in southern Lebanon, at the same time as troops fired artillery across the border.
Hundreds of thousands of Lebanese have fled from the south of the country since Israel ordered the removal of people from the area south of the Litani River, considered by Israel to be a Hezbollah stronghold, a group backed by Iran. The organization has been firing rockets at Israel since entering the war, in support of Tehran, on March 2.
“The plan is to ensure that Hezbollah does not have military infrastructure,” the commander said, whose name was omitted by the Israeli military for security reasons.
The commander, who spoke to Reuters in Eilon, an Israeli town four kilometers from the border, is responsible for infantry warfare in Lebanon and declined to say how many Israeli soldiers have already been positioned in the area.
Describing the military fortifications inside Lebanon as “defensive positions,” he said the troops were raiding “the villages to see if Hezbollah has hidden weapons or communications hubs.”
Asked whether this includes raiding houses whose residents had fled after Israeli orders, the commander replied: “In some cases, they hid their weapons in the houses. We have no choice but to make sure that that house is not a military installation.”
Hezbollah publicly denies the use of civilian infrastructure to store weapons. The group accuses Israel of destroying houses to prevent the return of Lebanese, which Israel denies. Many villages in southern Lebanon have been completely destroyed.
Two Israeli soldiers have been killed since the start of operations in southern Lebanon, according to the Israeli Army.
At least 968 people have been killed in Lebanon since the start of Israel’s attacks, according to Lebanese authorities.
Hezbollah has not provided regular updates on casualties among its fighters. On Monday (16), a group member told Reuters that at least 46 people had been killed up to that moment.
The Israeli Army is advancing slowly through southern Lebanon, with the aim of clearing the town of Khiyam completely as a first step before moving toward the Litani River, according to a Lebanese security source and a foreign official monitoring developments on the ground.
Asked whether Israel intends to establish positions up to the Litani, the commander said that decision is not up to him. If orders are given, he added, the troops will be “ready to carry out all kinds of operations.”
The Israeli Army did not immediately comment on its operations in Khiyam, about 5 km from the Lebanese border, facing the Israeli town of Metula.
Along the border, near Metula, Reuters observed several Israeli military fortifications dug into slopes, with rows of tanks, armored troop transport vehicles and bulldozers.
The smoke rose from Khiyam throughout the day on this Wednesday, and many buildings in the southern part of the town were reduced to rubble. A neighboring city remains in ruins due to Israel’s attacks in 2024.
