Several buildings destroyed by Israeli strikes, near the border wall in the village of Ramia in South Lebanon, on March 5, 2025. (Credit: Mahmoud Zayyat/AFP)
Contact was lost Sunday midday with a Lebanese Army soldier, Ziad Chebli, as he was driving from Halta (Hasbaya) to the Bastara Farms area (Shebaa Farms, Hasbaya district). He was riding a motorcycle towards the border village of Kfar Shuba to visit his in-laws and was dressed in civilian clothes, reported our correspondent in southern Lebanon, who noted that the soldier was off-duty.
A patrol from the Lebanese Army and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) immediately launched a search. Chebli's family was informed that he was wounded in the foot by a bullet fired by the Israeli army and that he was taken prisoner while passing through the Bastara Farms area.
Despite the implementation of a cease-fire on Nov. 27, 2024, to end the war between Israel and Hezbollah that had been ongoing since Oct. 8, 2023, the Israeli army has maintained its presence at five points it considers strategic in southern Lebanon. It has carried out almost daily strikes in the area, intensifying its attacks over the weekend.