Amid Israel’s ongoing military escalation against Lebanon, there is mounting concern that the Israeli military intends to effectively seize significant parts of the southern Lebanese border area, as troops are constructing a wall in the area near Maroun El Ras and Aitaroun, several kilometers into Lebanese territory.
The move is being presented by Israeli media as an attempt to further secure one of the IDF’s “strategic sites,” military outposts they built inside Lebanon after last year’s war and which they refused to withdraw from.
This ties into military operations inside Aitaroun, where Israeli troops blew up multiple homes inside the border town. The IDF similarly blew up homes in Houla on Monday, which they claimed was because Hezbollah was using the homes.
The border wall construction comes as the US is pressuring Lebanon to enter into direct talks with Israel, talks that Lebanon has already agreed to and which Israel has recently rejected out of hand. This suggests that even if the talks do end up happening, ending the Israeli occupation is a non-starter.
Meanwhile, Israeli attacks only continue to escalate, as we come up on the one-year anniversary of the ceasefire that was meant to end the Israeli invasion. The IDF has claimed 15 Hezbollah members killed, without providing evidence, and Lebanese firefighters and civil defense forces struggle to contain fires set across the south by Israeli strikes.
While Hezbollah has thus far not fired any rockets at Israel since the ceasefire began, the growing escalation and Israeli demands for the Lebanon government to crack down on Hezbollah may be bringing that, and any pretense of a ceasefire, to an end.
Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem warned the group will not agree to disarmament during the active Israeli attack, adding the current situation “cannot continue” and the group remains ready to defend Lebanon’s sovereignty.