Lebanon's south faces heavy bombing as Israel pushes for change

Southern Lebanon is looking more and more like Gaza these days‚ Its villages are flattened fields are burned and homes are full of bullet holes. The Israeli military has been attacking without a clear plan or goal.

At first Benjamin Netanyahu said they wanted to push Hezbollah past the Litani River so Israelis could go back to northern Israel. But then he changed his mind and said Lebanon should get rid of Hezbollah or face destruction like Gaza.

According to Emily Tripp from Airwars‚ southern Lebanon has seen the worlds most intense bombing in the last 20 years except for Gaza. On 23/09/2024 (which is about a year ago) the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said they hit 1‚500 targets with 2‚000 bombs.

One of the most intense air campaigns wed seen was when the U.S. and their allies dropped 5000 bombs on Mosul in a month

The bombing has made more than a million people leave their homes which is bad for Lebanonʼs social fabric. The IDF is looking for Hezbollah stuff in homes‚ markets‚ and farms – destroying memories of people who lived there. Some villages along the 120-kilometer Blue Line (thats the border between Israel and Lebanon) are gone‚ and almost all are empty.

Israel has sent a lot of soldiers to the border. Jonathan Conricus (hes a former Israeli military guy) thinks IDF troops are about 5 kilometers inside Lebanon. Theyʼre looking for Hezbollah stuff and plan to stay for a while.

Eran Lerman‚ who used to be Israels deputy national security advisor says special forces have been going into southern Lebanon for almost a year to get ready for this invasion. Now big groups of soldiers are coming in to destroy Hezbollah things and watch for them coming back.

Israel doesnt want to stay in southern Lebanon forever‚ but they dont plan to leave soon either. They want to push Hezbollah out and maybe even get rid of them for good. They think their attacks and U.S. support might scare Hezbollah and Iran‚ and make Lebanese people fight against Hezbollah.

But this plan could go wrong. So far‚ nobody is really fighting against Hezbollah. Experts are worried about fighting between different groups in Lebanon‚ which hasnt been good for Israel before. When Israel attacked Lebanon in 1982; they kicked out the Palestinian Liberation Organization but Hezbollah got stronger.

Some people in Israel think this time is different. Lerman says “There are people in Lebanon who will support us“. But in 1982 when Israel worked with local groups‚ a lot of Palestinians were killed in refugee camps.

Ayman Mhanna‚ who runs the Samir Kassir Foundation in Beirut is worried about southern Lebanon being destroyed. But hes more scared of fighting between different groups in Lebanon. He thinks the death toll wont be as high as in Gaza (where more than 42‚000 people died in the past year) because people can move to other parts of Lebanon

Mhanna is really worried about what happens after – no help to rebuild‚ people staying too long in other parts of Lebanon‚ and fights breaking out. He said “The country is reeling under a severe economic and political crisis‚ and we wont get international aid until there is a government‚ and I suspect some Arab countries are happy with whats happening to Hezbollah“

Some think Israel will be more careful this time. Lerman said if they dont face much resistance‚ theyll move slowly. But more fighting might start as they stay longer. Israel doesnt know how to keep Hezbollah away or stop another group from taking its place. They dont trust the Lebanese army or U.N. peacekeepers to guard the border

Israel hopes Palestinians will turn against Hamas and Lebanese against Hezbollah. They think everything is coming together to end anti-Israel groups. But while Netanyahu talks about a “long war“ and a new Middle East; nobody really knows what will happen. For now‚ southern Lebanon is being destroyed