Lebanese civilian cars driving on a road passing destroyed buildings in the village of Aita al-Shaab, in southern Lebanon, as seen from northern Israel, on Jan. 29, 2025. (Credit: Jalaa Marey/AFP)
BEIRUT — Israeli soldiers opened fire on residents of Maroun al-Ras, in the Bint Jbeil district, on Wednesday, as they attempted to return to their homes in the village.
According to the cease-fire agreement, the Israeli army was meant to have completed its withdrawal from all Lebanese territory by Jan. 26, but on the weekend it officially extended its occupation until Feb. 18 and continues to demolish homes in the South as its troops advance through border villages in the eastern and central sectors of the border area.
Explosions and demolitions were reported on Wednesday in several Marjayoun district villages, as the Israeli army razes to the ground an already devastated landscape in the South.
In Maroun al-Ras, two people were injured by Israeli gunfire as they tried to reach their homes, one of whom was not a resident of the village itself, but had come there to retrieve the body of his brother, who he learned had been killed in the village. Residents were unable to return, forced to retreat by Israeli troops, who detained four Maroun al-Ras residents: two young men, a woman, and her son. The young men and the mother were later released, according to the village mayor, but the son, Hussein Fares, remains in Israeli captivity.
Israeli forces also seized an ambulance belonging to al-Risala Scouts medical association, affiliated with the Amal Movement, but later released it.
People trying to enter Maroun al-Ras from its northern al-Shouhada neighborhood, near Aitaroun, encountered violent Israeli deterrence. “They managed to move forward," Maroun al-Ras' mayor told L'Orient Today, "but an Israeli army force arrived and began firing and arresting several people."
The residents returned to the northern entrance to await the next opportunity to attempt to reach their homes.
Explosions and destruction
In Kfar Kila, residents set up camp on the Khardali road, near the intersection that leads to Deir Mimas, with the "intention to stay there until the Israeli army withdraws” from their village, which its troops continue to occupy. Soldiers are still present there, and continued to rig buildings in the village with explosives and detonate them. In Odaisseh and Houla, as well, Israeli soldiers continued on their path of destruction. An artesian well was destroyed using a bulldozer in Houla, and homes on the southwestern outskirts of Blida, also in Marjayoun district, were destroyed with Israeli bulldozers.
The Israeli army set fire to, demolished and detonated homes in Ras al-Dahr, then advanced into Mais al-Jabal, where it did the same, as well as uprooting trees with bulldozers and erecting road blockades.
Tens of thousands of buildings in southern Lebanon have been obliterated by the Israeli army, through its massive two-month-long aerial campaign and then, following the cease-fire, with its ongoing on-the-ground demolitions. Thousands of southern Lebanese streamed toward their hometowns in the South in the days leading up to the agreed-upon deadline for Israel's withdrawal, only to be shot at and pushed back. At least 26 people were killed by the Israeli army, which claimed the Lebanese Army was to blame for its ongoing presence in the South, saying it wasn't prepared to replace Hezbollah in the villages Israel still occupies.
On several occasions, the Lebanese Army has attempted to move into villages where Israel was supposedly withdrawing from, only to be met with aggression from the Israeli army. So far, the Lebanese Army has entered the villages of Ramieh (Bint Jbeil district), Aita al-Shaab, Boustane (Sour district), Deir Mimas, Tallouseh and Taybeh (Marjayoun district). It is also partially present in Marwahin (Sour) and Yaroun (Bint Jbeil). However, Lebanese soldiers have not yet been able to deploy in Aitaroun, Maroun al-Ras (Bint Jbeil), Mais al-Jabal, Houla, Blida, Markaba, Kfar Kila, Wazzani, Rabb al-Talathine (Marjayoun district), Majiyidieh and Mazraat Sarda (Hasbaya district).
Civil Defense recovered the body of yet another victim of Israeli bombardments in the rubble of the Khiam locality, where more than 50 bodies have already been pulled out from under the rubble. Operations are continuing in cooperation with the Lebanese Army to find other missing persons. The body of another victim, killed in Kfar Shuba (Hasbaya district), was also found.
36 injured Tuesday
Israeli fighter jets flew over southern Lebanon on Wednesday and an Israeli drone dropped two grenades near Bani Hayyan, in Marjayoun district. A drone strike on Majdel Selm injured five people.
The Health Ministry reported that Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon on Tuesday injured 36 people: six in Yaroun during an attempt by residents to enter the village, twenty in Nabatieh al-Fawqa, and ten in Zawtar. Hezbollah parliamentary bloc leader, MP Mohammad Raad, strongly condemned these attacks, calling them a “despicable Zionist aggression.”
“This is further proof of the permanent threat that the Israeli entity poses to our people, our country, and its security,” Raad said, denouncing “international negligence and Israeli violations” in southern Lebanon, and stressing that these elements strengthen the conviction of his party and “all the free people of the world” in their right to resist and bear “their national and moral responsibility.”
Head of the Israeli army's Northern Command General Ori Gordin warned in a statement cited in Israeli media that “if Hezbollah attempts to resume fighting, it will be hit even harder, including its leaders.”
“The threat of an Oct. 7 from the North has been averted in the near future, and we must ensure this in the years to come,” he said.
