Civil defense authorities recover 23 bodies in Marjayoun | LIVE

Lebanon

Lebanon “will not accept an Israeli presence on its territory,” said Amal Movement MP Mohammad Khawaja, on Tuesday. “It is our right to use any method within our reach to defend our land, and this will be decided according to the circumstances,” he added in an interview with Russian news agency Sputnik.

He added: “They say they'll stay [in five high points in southern Lebanon] indefinitely, but who's to guarantee that they won't take advantage of this to change the rules of the 1949 truce agreement, or to alter the borders?”

Asked about the American role, Khawaja said he “doesn't count on it” because the United States “is a partner of Israel and covers up its actions.”

South Lebanon

The Civil Defense announced that its teams recovered a total of 23 bodies from the rubble on Tuesday: 14 in Mais al-Jabal, three in Markaba, three in Kfar Kila and three in Odaisseh (all in the Marjayoun district). The bodies were transported to several hospitals in the region for DNA testing.

It added that it had transported a man wounded by Israeli fire in Mais al-Jabal to the government hospital in Tebnin. It assured that it would continue its mission “in close collaboration with the Lebanese Army until the search for the missing is completed.”

South Lebanon

The municipality of Mais al-Jabal issued a statement calling on local residents to be vigilant of “several booby-trapped houses and businesses” as well as “several unexploded objects” in the area.

The U.S. military confirmed reports that its strategic bombers — escorted by refueling aircraft and fighter jets — completed a run over the Middle East “to demonstrate force projection capabilities in the region.”

U.S. Central Command said “live munitions drops at ranges in several partner nations” were part of the mission, aimed at showing an “ability to respond to any state or non-state actor seeking to broaden or escalate conflict.”

The statement comes after threats to bomb Iran by U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

South Lebanon

Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee: "Hezbollah has been defeated, suffered a severe blow, and was pushed back years."

Adraee announced on X that the Israeli army is “gradually transferring responsibility for areas in southern Lebanon to a monitoring mechanism under U.S. supervision while maintaining temporary control over key positions to strengthen defensive efforts."

"Our message is clear: the Israeli army will be everywhere to protect northern residents. We are committed to the agreement and will thwart any attempt to violate it,” he concluded.

South Lebanon

"The Israeli military shot down one of its own drones on Tuesday over suspicions that it malfunctioned and could fall in Lebanese territory, providing valuable intelligence to adversaries," Haaretz reported.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas fired an official who criticized his decision to end a system of benefits for families of Palestinians killed or imprisoned by Israel.

Abbas announced the replacement of Kadoura Fares as head of the Palestinian Prisoners Society without providing any explanation. Hamas criticized Fares' dismissal, saying it reflected the Authority's "oppression and exclusion" and its "submission to Zionist and American dictates."

UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini confirmed that Israeli soldiers and municipal authorities stormed three schools and a training center in the occupied West Bank, ordering immediate evacuations.

He said 250 children in three schools run by the U.N. agency in occupied East Jerusalem were affected, as well as more than 350 students in training at the targeted large training center in Qalandiya.

"This is a violation of the fundamental right to education as well as the privileges and immunities of the United Nations," added Lazzarini on X. Children's access to education must be preserved, and United Nations facilities must be protected and respected at all times, wherever they are located."

Lebanon announced that it was in contact with the U.S. and France so that Israel, which maintained five positions in southern Lebanon on Tuesday at the end of the deadline for its withdrawal from the sector, withdraws completely, the presidency said in a statement.

"Lebanon is continuing its diplomatic contacts with the United States and France so that Israel withdraws completely from the territories still occupied during the last war," with Hezbollah, mentions the press release from President Joseph Aoun's press office.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed that four bodies of hostages held since Oct. 7, 2023 in the Gaza Strip would be handed over to the country on Thursday, before the release of six hostages alive on Saturday, as announced earlier by Hamas.

In indirect negotiations in Cairo between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement, "understandings were reached that the six living hostages [to be released during] the first phase [of the truce in Gaza] will be released on Saturday. This Thursday, Israel will receive the bodies of four deceased hostages," Netanyahu was quoted as saying by his office. Four other deceased hostages are expected to be returned to Israel next week.

Hamas will release the bodies of four hostages on Thursday, while the six remaining hostages still alive will be freed on Saturday, including Hisham al-Sayed and Abera Mengistu, who were held in Gaza before the war began, Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip Khalil Hayya was quoted as saying by Reuters.

The bodies will include members of the Bibas family, Hayya said in a televised speech, without specifying which ones.

Hamas militants captured Yarden and Shiri Bibas along with their two children: Ariel, who was four when he was abducted, and nine-month-old baby Kfir. Yarden was released on Feb. 1.

"There is no Lebanon and no sovereignty since 1982 without the weapons of the resistance. The weapons of the resistance will remain as long as Israel and its threats remain," Jaafari mufti Sheikh Ahmad Qabalan said, according to the state-run National News Agency. "A word of advice to some arrogant people: do not compromise the country's national security. What Israel's greatest Atlantic wars could not do, no one can do."

Qabalan also warned against "mistakes because the country is a powder keg."

"Lebanon is a sovereign power with its people, its resistance and its army. Playing with sovereign security is an existential disaster for Lebanon, and the game of intimidation does not help. The weapons of the resistance are Lebanon's greatest defense," he said.

An extraordinary Arab League meeting on Gaza, originally scheduled for next week, has been postponed until March 4, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The ministry said in a statement that the new date had been agreed with Arab League members as part of "technical and logistical preparations" for the summit, which was called in response to Trump's proposal to take control of the war-torn Gaza Strip and displace its Palestinian residents.

At least one Palestinian was killed and 13 others injured by Israel in Gaza in the past 24 hours, according to the enclave's health ministry.

Six bodies of Palestinians killed in previous Israeli attacks were also pulled from the rubble and delivered to hospitals in the territory, the statement said. The new figures bring the total death toll from Israel's war on Gaza to 48,291 and 111,722 wounded.

Qatar, which acts as a mediator between Israel and Hamas, said that the future of the Gaza Strip is "a Palestinian issue," at a time when Israel insists on the need to eliminate Hamas and the "total demilitarization" of the Palestinian territory, reports AFP.

What happens in the Palestinian territory after the conflict is "a Palestinian issue," Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari told a news conference.

"The question of who officially represents the Palestinians and which groups should be present in the political sphere" is up to the Palestinians themselves, he said, in response to a question about Israel's desire to eradicate the ruling movement in the Gaza Strip.

Imad Qassem, the second rescuer of the al-Rissala scouts, affiliated with the Amal Movement, who was kidnapped by the Israeli army, was released and is now in the custody of the Lebanese army, according to L'Orient Today's correspondent in south Lebanon.

The Israeli army also released rescuer Elie Maalouf during the night.

Alon Liel, former director general of the Israeli Foreign Ministry, said that the Arab world and the rest of the international community have not yet presented an alternative to the Israeli-backed U.S. plan for Gaza.

"As long as you don't have an alternative plan and the only plan is Trump's, it helps the government of Israel to act accordingly," he told Al-Jazeera from Tel Aviv. He also stressed that a plan from Arab leaders must clearly define the roles of Palestinian and Arab countries, as well as the rest of the world, in rebuilding and managing Gaza.

“Opposition to the Trump plan is not just about words. You have to agree on an alternative and support it in a way that you have the logistics and the funding,” he continued. He added that Egypt had an interest in acting quickly because of the potential damage it could suffer from the ramifications of Donald Trump’s plan.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said the Israeli army would remain "temporarily" at five "strategic" points in southern Lebanon after the deadline for the withdrawal of its troops from the neighboring country expired earlier in the day.

"We are temporarily remaining in five strategic high positions necessary for our security. Once Lebanon fully implements its part of the agreement, there will be no need to maintain these points," Saar said at a press conference in Jerusalem, referring to the cease-fire agreement with Hezbollah that came into effect on Nov. 27.

Rescuers from the Islamic Health Committee, affiliated with Hezbollah, are searching for the remains of the martyrs. They extracted a man, Hussein Hajoula, originally from Bekaa.

A woman from Nabatieh told L'Orient Today's reporter on the ground, Lyana Alameddine, that rescue teams are also looking for her brother, Haydar Baqer, 32, who has been missing since Oct. 1. “I don’t know what I feel. There is no hope that they will find him,” she said, as she waited to learn the identities of the martyrs whose bodies were being extracted.

Rescuers are waiting for equipment to arrive before continuing their search, which will probably be suspended until tomorrow.

The head of the Kfar Kila municipality, Hassan Sheet, told L'Orient Today's reporter on the ground, Lyana Alameddine, that 30 martyrs fell in Kfar Kila, some of whom were from the village.

"I am still in shock. We are waiting for the state to intervene in the reconstruction," he said.

Sheet said that 90 percent of the village was completely destroyed, while 10 percent of the buildings were partially damaged.

Israel is demanding "a complete demilitarization of the Gaza Strip" after the war, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said.

Israel is determined to achieve "the release of all our hostages" and the achievement of "all the objectives of the war set" by the government, Saar said at a news conference in Jerusalem.

"We demand a complete demilitarization of Gaza. We will not accept the continued presence of Hamas or any other terrorist group in Gaza," he added.

Two young men, one from south Lebanon and the other from Bekaa, were found alive in Kfar Kila (Marjayoun) after contact was lost with them during the war, L'Orient Today's correspondent in the region reported, noting that they were "both in good health."

Negotiations for the second phase of the Gaza cease-fire deal have not yet officially started, a Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson was quoted as saying by Reuters.

 For the U.N., "any delay" in the Israeli withdrawal violates Security Council Resolution 1701, reports AFP.

Israeli forces are carrying out a large-scale demolition operation in the Tulkarm refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, on the 23rd day of their attacks on the area, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reports.

Demolition notices have been issued for 14 other Palestinian homes inside the camp, according to Wafa, which reports that at least 22 homes have been destroyed in more than three weeks of Israeli attacks. Another 300 homes have been partially destroyed, 11 have been burned, and some 10,450 people have been forcibly displaced so far in Tulkarem.

South-east of occupied East Jerusalem, Israeli forces also stormed Jabal Mukaber, accompanied by a bulldozer and a team, to demolish several homes.

Mr. Ali, a former headmaster of an elementary school in Burj al-Shemali, came with his wife and two of his children. Their house is half destroyed. Nothing has been stolen but there are many bullet marks on the walls, notes our reporter on the spot Caroline Hayek.

"In the living room, there was a photo of my daughter with the Sayyed (Hassan Nasrallah) who had won a prize at school at the time. The Israelis broke the frame and cut up the photo, just to provoke us," Mr. Ali said.

A man on his way to his village in south Lebanon said he did not know if he would ever get his home back. "I'm walking. Even if my house is destroyed, the most important thing is that I'm going home. This is my village. It's mine. It's been a year and a half since I last saw the south. This is a day of glory, no matter what anyone says," he told L'Orient Today. "We're happy to be going home, but we're sad for our martyrs."

Haitham Halawi, 32, came from Beirut to inspect his house in the village. This trader came without his family "for fear that something will happen on the first day" of the Israeli withdrawal. "When everything is fine I will bring my family back," he says.

A destroyed school near Kfar Kila, Feb. 18, 2025. (Credit: Lyana Alameddine)

Residents walking towards Kfar Kila see the destruction as they pass: When one recognizes his demolished house near Houra, another shows L'Orient Today's correspondent, Lyana Alameddine, a damaged school. Pointing to pulverized houses, a resident confides under cover of anonymity the bitterness that these destructions took place, according to him, during the ceasefire period, and not during the war.

Khodr Sleiman, 47, a father of three daughters, was able to return to his village of Deir Mimas. "My house was razed and the whole neighborhood. It was destroyed during the cease-fire. My brothers and sisters lost their homes too. I am happy because I am finally returning, but I also feel angry," he told L'Orient Today's reporter on the spot Lyana Alameddine. "I could have left the country with a good salary, but I refused. My job is in Deir Mimas. I lost my health because of what happened. I have to start from scratch when I should have been able to finally rest," he added.

(Credit: X/@LBpresidency)

"Israel must withdraw from all occupied Lebanese territories," said Joseph Aoun, Nabih Berri and Nawaf Salam in a joint statement posted by Baabda on X, following a meeting. "The Lebanese army is playing its role and is fully ready to carry out its mission on the border" with Israel, the statement from the three presidents continued. The statement also said that Beirut "will address the U.N. Security Council, which decided on resolution 1701, to take the necessary urgent measures against Israeli violations and to force Israel to immediately withdraw to the borders, as required by the international resolution."

Wafaa Hussein on her return to the village of Houla. (Credit: Matthieu Karam/L'Orient Today)

Wafaa Hussein, 30, who was displaced in Saida, returned to her village with her father. "I come almost every day, but today it's special. We don't see the Israeli enemy anymore," she told L'Orient Today's reporter on the ground Caroline Hayek.

"I knew the little girl who died. She had courage. We have many martyrs, almost a hundred and that is a source of pride," she stated. Hussein, whose house is now flat, remains hopeful. "We have a saying in Houla that says: We plant martyrs before planting olive trees."

The Israeli air force is flying at very low altitudes and carrying out mock air raids in the Bint Jbeil district, L'Orient Today's correspondent reports.

As partisan and patriotic songs resound as residents return to the villages they left nearly a year and a half ago, residents express their joy at returning, like Nada, a mother of four, who said she was "so happy to be able to embrace our land again." Residents who passed the Lebanese Army checkpoint at Deir Mimas, where a Lebanese army tank is blocking the road, start running on the main road leading to Kfar Kila.

Lama Mustafa holding a photo of her husband, a Hezbollah fighter killed by an Israeli strike, in Houla, Feb. 18, 2025. (Credit: Matthieu Karam)

"The Minister of Education has not thought of the families of the south on this day," said Lama Mustafa, 37, who came to collect the remains of her husband, killed by an Israeli shell that fell on a house in the village. She explains to our journalist Caroline Hayek her situation, with three children that she has to leave alone at school because they are taking exams. "I am waiting for the army to secure access" to the village, she adds, refusing to risk going on foot through the bush as some residents do.

"We only have a car to stay in!" said a dejected Nawal Nabih, who was displaced in Habboush (Nabatieh) since the start of the cross-border conflicts in October 2023. She suddenly started crying when she discovered her house in Kfar Kila destroyed.

"We thought we were going to come back, that it was just a war, but it's revenge!" she told L'Orient Today's correspondent Lyana Alameddine. Her house was set on fire a week ago and blown up last night, she explained alongside Khadija, the maid. "Our house was our whole life, the fruit of our labor," she said, adding that "even the family's businesses are gone."

"Fortunately, my children are fine," she stated.

People run near an entrance to the village of Kfar Kila, on Feb. 18, 2025. (Credit: Mohammad Yassin/L'Orient Today)

"I came to Kfar Kila to find my brother, a Hezbollah fighter," a Baalbeck resident told L'Orient Today's correspondent on the ground, Lyana Alameddine. She explained that her brother had been missing since the end of September, during the major Israeli air offensive on Lebanon. She described the pain of not knowing his fate. "We are all tired in the family, but we accept: The feeling of loss is difficult, but we thank God for having a fighter [in the family], we are proud of him," she explained, alongside her niece and the fighter's fiancée.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz made official the maintenance of Israeli troops at "five checkpoints" in southern Lebanon, and promised to act "coercively" against Hezbollah.

"As of today, [the Israeli army] will remain in a buffer zone in Lebanon with five checkpoints and will continue to act coercively and without compromise against any violation [of the truce by] Hezbollah," Katz said in a statement, while under the ceasefire agreement in Lebanon, Israel should have withdrawn completely earlier in the day, after already delaying the initially planned date of its withdrawal.

Here are the developments that occurred this morning:

- Residents of Mais al-Jabal (Marjayoun) returned home on foot in the morning or on motorcycles, after the Israeli withdrawal. According to the head of the municipality, the Lebanese Army deployed in the village yesterday evening, inspecting the main roads throughout the night and securing them to allow the return of the residents. Some had spent the night in their cars or in nearby houses, waiting to be able to return to their villages. The Lebanese army continues to block the western entrance to the village using these vehicles.

- Residents of Wazzani (Marjayoun) returned home on foot, the entrance to the village still being blocked by mounds of earth.

- In Yaroun (Bint Jbeil), the Israeli army has completely withdrawn after having dynamited the center where it was located, the head of the municipality, Ali Tehfeh, told L'Orient Today. The Lebanese Army deployed this morning and began inspecting the village and removing the mounds of earth blocking the roads, with a view to allowing the return of the inhabitants.

- The Lebanese Army deployed in Maroun al-Ras (Bint Jbeil) and the residents were able to return. In addition, the homes were completely destroyed by the Israeli army, according to the village mukhtar, Mohammad Fares. In addition, Israeli soldiers are still present in Jal al Deir, which overlooks Aitaroun and the region

Two people were injured by Israeli bullets during bursts of fire in the Karkazan region, northeast of Mais al-Jabal (Marjayoun), L'Orient Today's correspondent reports.

Here are the developments that occurred last night:

- After 10:00 p.m., Lebanese army units entered the villages of Blida and Mais al-Jabal after the withdrawal of Israeli forces to the eastern outskirts of these villages. A Lebanese army unit headed from Tallouseh towards Markaba, where it deployed in the neighborhood of the third company. Lebanese army armored vehicles accompanied by a large excavator entered the center of Mais al-Jabal to reopen the local military centers, then opened the main roads and carried out their technical inspection.

- After 11:00 p.m., explosions were carried out by the Israeli army in the villages of Kfar Kila and Odaisseh, where Israel proceeded to dynamite several houses. The Israeli forces freed the rescuer Elie Maalouf of the Scouts of the Islamic Mission (affiliated with the Amal movement), originally from the town of Tebnine and who had been kidnapped the day before in Houla. The Lebanese army entered the villages of Mhaibib and Blida.

- At midnight, the Lebanese Army and UNIFIL bulldozers, accompanied by military vehicles, moved to the intersection of Burj al-Moulouk, Kfar Kila and Khiam, near the Said Farah gas station, in preparation for their entry into Kfar Kila. The army vehicles also headed to the village of Yaroun to prepare to enter it, as well as to Maroun al-Ras. Around midnight, Lebanese army vehicles also arrived at the government hospital in Mais al-Jabal, located in the north of the village, where they established a military center in the vicinity. They also moved to the center of Bayyad (near the wall) east of Mais al-Jabal and began deploying there.

- In the early hours of dawn, the Israeli army withdrew from the hill of Uweida, located between the villages of Kfar Kila and Odaisseh. It then entered Kfar Kila.

- Israeli tanks moved towards the village of Kfar Shouba (Hasbaya) shortly after 6 a.m. on Tuesday, according to residents.

The Israeli army wants to maintain its presence at five strategic points in south Lebanon after today, which corresponds to the deadline set for the expiration of the cease-fire agreement between Hezbollah and Israel after an extension.

Here are those five points:

- Labbouneh/Alma al-Shaab (Sour) which faces Shlomi on the Israeli side;

- Jabal Blat, on the outskirts of Ramieh (Bint Jbeil) which faces Chtoula and Zar'it;

- Jal al-Deir, south of Aitaroun, (Bint Jbeil) which faces Avivim and Malikia

- A position recently established along the Markaba-Houla road, (Marjayoun) which faces Margaliot;

- The hill of Hamames, near Khiam, (Marjayoun) which faces Metoula.

Good morning!

Thank you for joining us for our live coverage today.

Be sure to read the Morning Brief so you are caught up with what has been happening.

Israel plans to remain in Lebanon after Feb. 18 withdrawal deadline: Everything you need to know this Tuesday

Israel plans to remain in Lebanon after Feb. 18 withdrawal deadline: Everything you need to know this Tuesday

In a post this morning on X, the Lebanese Army said that it deployed in many villages in south Lebanon, between yesterday and today, knowing that the cease-fire expires today and that Israel was supposed to withdraw completely from Lebanese lands.

In the Marjayoun district, the army deployed in Abbasieh, Majidieh and Kfar Kila. They also entered Odaisseh, Markaba, Houla, Mais al-Jabal, Blida and Mhaibib.

As for the Bint Jbeil district, the army said that it deployed "in Maroun al-Ras and in the remaining part of Yaroun."

The troops added that they " deployed to other border sites south of the Litani, in coordination with the cease-fire monitoring committee and UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon), after the withdrawal of the Israeli enemy." The statement specified that the army's inspection will be carried out as well as the processing of unexploded ordnance and suspicious objects in all these areas. "The Army Directorate reminds citizens to follow the directives of the units deployed" on site.