Israeli occupation forces escalated their military operations across southern Lebanon on Saturday, unleashing airstrikes, heavy machine-gun fire, and targeted demolitions across multiple border towns, while also forcing farmers from their lands in an apparent expansion of the security zone along the volatile frontier.
Dawn Airstrikes Hit Mansouri and Majdal Zoun
Enemy warplanes launched a pre-dawn assault on the outskirts of Mansouri and Majdal Zoun – two towns situated in the western sector of southern Lebanon. The strikes, described by local residents as intense and precise, targeted suspected militant infrastructure, though no civilian casualties have been immediately reported.
Concurrently, occupation ground forces conducted sweeping machine-gun barrages toward the Bastra farm area, with a simultaneous suppression operation targeting the strategic border town of Khiam – a long-standing flashpoint known for its proximity to Israeli positions.
Explosive Demolitions Rock Nabatieh District
In the Nabatieh governorate, a powerful blast echoed near the town of Kfar Tebnit early Saturday. Military analysts indicated the explosion was likely a controlled demolition of a structure or tunnel shaft, part of Israel’s ongoing campaign to dismantle what it describes as Hezbollah’s forward-operating infrastructure. The Lebanese army has not yet commented on the nature of the blast.
Farmers Forced Off Land as Exclusion Zone Expands
In a move that drew immediate condemnation from local agricultural unions, Israeli soldiers forcibly evacuated several farmers from their cultivated lands situated between the villages of Ain Arab and Mari. Witnesses said troops cordoned off the area and ordered the civilians to leave at gunpoint, effectively enlarging the de facto military buffer zone along the Blue Line.
Interceptor Misfire Over Metula Raises Alarm
In an unusual disclosure, Israeli media reported that the occupation army fired an interceptor missile over the northern settlement of Metula a town lying directly opposite the Lebanese border. Military officials later attributed the launch to a misidentification, downplaying the incident as a technical error. However, the event underscores the heightened state of alert on both sides, where even routine radar contacts can rapidly escalate into kinetic responses.
Source: Al-Manar Emnglish Website