Israeli forces have flattened villages and targeted residential areas in southern Lebanon, with videos showing civilian buildings bombed from the skies. Between 40 and 60 villages in southern Lebanon have faced near-total destruction according to the New Arab, including villages Naqoura and Taybeh in the last few days alone. Israeli military leaders have vowed to invade all of southern Lebanon and expel hundreds of thousands of Lebanese people in order to create a “defensive buffer zone” between the two countries. Around a fifth of the Lebanese population is now displaced. International law says that war cannot be used as a pretext to expel civilians from their land. In Gaza, deliberate and long-term displacement of Palestinians is a war crime and crime against humanity according to Amnesty International. Hoping to prevent destruction comparable to Gaza, Lebanese president Joseph Aoun said on Sunday that he was willing to negotiate with Israel, in order to “at least save the homes that have not yet been destroyed”. In 2024, Amnesty International estimated that 1.2 million Lebanese people had already been displaced during a year of cross-border fighting that year, during which the IDF damaged and destroyed tens of southern Lebanese villages. Many of those who had returned after the 2024 ceasefire have been forced to flee their homes once more. Al Jazeera reported that four people were killed during a raid that hit a car in the southern town of Kfar Rumman on April 6, whilst a drone in Nabatieh al-Fawqa killed another. Israeli strikes have also targeted bridges and other infrastructural sites, undermining civilian access to basic services. The Lebanese Health Ministry said today that 1,497 Lebanese people have been killed since March 2.

From Novara Media via This RSS Feed.