
Wide shot of Kfar Kila showing the extent of the devastation caused by Israeli bombings, on Feb. 18, 2025. (Credit: Mohammad Yassin/L'Orient Today)
Less than 24 hours after a deadly attack on a vehicle carrying an official of the armed wing of Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, the Israeli army carried out a strike on Wednesday on a van driving in the Ras al-Naqoura area, injuring at least two of its occupants.
The information was first reported by L'Orient Today's correspondent before the Israeli army claimed the attack through its Arabic-language spokesperson, Avichay Adraee. The van hit by the Israeli drone belonged to two brothers of the Juhair family, who were inspecting their land in Ras al-Naqoura (Sour) and were seriously injured.
Residents reported that the drone repeatedly dropped bombs near the targeted vehicle in Ras al-Naqoura, preventing the army and the Red Cross from reaching it. According to Al-Mayadeen, the passengers of the van were eventually rescued and survived. Later in the afternoon, the Israeli army claimed the shooting, asserting, without concrete evidence, that it involved "a number of suspects identified loading weapons into vehicles in the Naqoura area."
Overflights
Israel remains present at several points in southern Lebanon, in violation of the cease-fire conditions with Hezbollah, which came into force on Nov. 27. On Tuesday, it claimed to have eliminated Khodr Said Hashem, described as "the commander of Radwan naval forces," Hezbollah's elite unit, in a drone strike still in the Sour region. According to L'Orient Today's correspondent, the drone hit a vehicle moving in Reshknanay. After the strike, drones continued to fly over the area.
Apart from the Ras al-Naqoura strike, few security incidents were reported on the border with Israel although an Israeli drone dropped a stun grenade in the direction of a civilian on the road leading to Tal al-Nahas, in the village of Kfar Kila (Marjayoun). A drone also flew over Naqoura at low altitude well before the strike on the van.
In the afternoon, Israeli soldiers fired a machine gun from the al-Assi position towards areas southeast of the Lebanese town of Mais al-Jabal to scare away residents inspecting their destroyed homes. A civilian vehicle was damaged by the shooting, but no injuries were reported. No incidents were recorded in the Bekaa either, except for a drone flying at a low altitude over western Bekaa in the middle of the day.
Several funerals were held in southern Lebanon, as the final death toll of the 15-month war between Hezbollah and Israel is still unknown – the provisional toll estimates over 4,000 dead. The civil defense has also recovered the remains of a person killed by Israeli bombings in Markaba (Marjayoun).
In Doueir and Habboush (Nabatieh), Hezbollah notably held funerals for two of its members killed during the conflict. In Touline (Marjayoun), where he attended the funerals of several people killed by Israeli bombings in the town, Hezbollah MP Ali Fayad called for "Lebanon's unity at a time when Israel is trying to divide the country."