In southern Lebanon, Israeli bombing and destruction operations continue at an escalating pace, in a field scene that is repeated daily, affecting homes, neighborhoods, forests, and several geographical locations, at a time when artillery shelling, raids, and intense drone flights continue. The operations are focused on towns and villages in the western and central sectors, amid widespread destruction of buildings and a gradual change in the area's features.
Retired Brigadier General and military expert Hassan Jouni believes that these operations have “a number of reasons,” the foremost of which is what he calls “the subjugation of geography,” explaining that Israel is working to “remove any building that could later be exploited or pose a threat to the Israeli, whether it is overlooking their lands or present in the region.”
Johnny told Asharq Al-Awsat that the explosions that affect the lands themselves also fall within the framework of “changing and adapting the geography,” by eliminating its features so that those who will be there later will not benefit from them, pointing out that “burning forests and trees also falls within the same goal.” He adds, “The destruction of buildings also aims to remove any obstacles to the vision, so that there are no areas remaining that obstruct them, or buildings that may constitute an obstacle to them later after the withdrawal.”
The other reason, according to Johnny, is related to “punishing the (Hezbollah) environment through bombing and destruction,” noting that “these buildings no longer contain weapons or Hezbollah members,” and therefore, their continued bombing “has become like a daily series” that, in his opinion, bears the character of “collective punishment of the environment that supported the resistance and (Hezbollah),” in an attempt to “kill this idea” by showing the results of this support to the population.
On the strategic level, Johnny believes that the goal also relates to the “Lebanese state,” by “eliminating all elements of life,” which complicates the possibility of return “for many years,” even in the event of an Israeli withdrawal. He points out that this may open the way for future claims or projects by Tel Aviv related to “establishing economic zones,” so that the ground becomes prepared for projects of this kind.
He adds that some of the bombings are linked to what exists “in the ground” and aim to eliminate Hezbollah’s infrastructure, noting that areas such as Al-Mansouri and Majdal Zoun represent “a geographic key and a corridor in the region,” and it is believed that there are tunnels and infrastructure there, in addition to the Ali Al-Taher area.
On the ground, in the morning, Israeli warplanes launched two raids on the Ali al-Tahir height on the northern outskirts of the town of Nabatieh al-Fawqa, after a series of night raids targeting the same height and the Deir neighborhood in Nabatieh al-Fawqa, in addition to the Dabsha area and the outskirts of Zawtar - Deir Suryan and Masha’ al-Mansouri.
The Israeli army carried out bombings in the towns of Kafr Tabnit, Arnoun and Talusah, while it carried out a major bombing of a number of houses in the Hoshin area on the western outskirts of the city of Mays al-Jabal, in conjunction with targeting the outskirts of the town with artillery shelling. Outside the town of Sarbin, an Israeli female bomber threw a bomb at one of the shepherds, but no injuries were reported.
In the western sector, the towns of Al-Mansouri, Majdal Zoun, and Beit Al-Siyad witnessed widespread bombing operations at night, accompanied by intense artillery shelling that extended until the dawn hours. According to field data, the bombings affected a large number of homes in these towns, while it was reported that not a single house remained without destruction in Al-Siyad’s homes. The bombing operations also targeted the towns of Hadada, Beit Yahoun, and Aita al-Jabal, in conjunction with sweeping operations with machine guns towards the neighboring valleys, amid continuous drone flights over the villages and towns of the western and central sectors. While there was information about the use of concussion missiles during the raids, Israeli drones continued to fly over the southern suburbs of the capital, Beirut.
