This picture shows the damage caused to a building by an Israeli strike that targeted a neighborhood in the southern Lebanese city of Sour on March 22, 2025. (Credit: Kawnat Haju/AFP)
As the Israeli army bombarded several areas of southern Lebanon and a building in Beirut's southern suburbs this Friday, March 28, in retaliation to rocket fire from the south, we invite you to revisit this article, originally published on March 22, 2025.
BEIRUT — As Israel unleashed a wave of bombings on southern Lebanon in retaliation for three rockets launched from Lebanon, residents of the South have emphasized their commitment to staying in their villages despite the danger.
The Israeli army intercepted the rockets on Saturday morning over the northern Israeli village of Metula and was "responding accordingly," the Israeli defense minister said. Israel shelled at least six villages in southern Lebanon and bombed an additional 18 sites across the South, killing at least eight people and injuring dozens others.
“What happened was quick and sudden," Ahmad Salloum from Touline, one of the targeted villages, told L'Orient Today. "The town was witnessing normal movement when a huge explosion was heard. Shrapnel and stones were scattered everywhere. The screams overlapped with the sound of ambulance sirens.”
“The war on Lebanon has not stopped — it is just a little less intense than before, but it is still ongoing,” he added, referring to the ongoing airstrikes, shelling, gunfire and systematic demolitions carried out by the Israeli army since the cease-fire came into effect on Nov. 27, 2024. More than 100 people have been killed by Israel during the truce.
"The state must act; the situation cannot remain as it is," Salloum said. "There are daily killings, destruction, and raids. Why isn’t the Lebanese Army responding to the attacks?"
"It’s true that I was afraid, but that won’t push me to flee again. After all, wherever we go, we are in danger."
Hussein, another resident of Touline, said that although the raid was brutal and terrifying, no residents left the town. "It is difficult to leave one’s home. People will continue to endure fear until they can no longer bear it," he told L’Orient Today.
Touline's mayor, Malek Awali, said that while residents are angry and anxious about what happened, they remain “committed to staying in the town.”
Nawal, a teacher from the town of Jbaa in the Iqlim al-Tuffah region, said: "The airstrikes today were all around us. The intensity of the explosions shook the houses, and the sound of the strikes terrorized the children."
"My two children and I took refuge in a room beneath the house, knowing it wouldn’t protect us from the force of the missiles," she added. "I thought about leaving the town, but where would we go? Despite my fear for my children, I will not leave my home again."
The Israeli government has had difficulty convincing displaced residents of the north to return home following the cease-fire and local municipal leaders often criticized the Israeli government for failing to secure their safety. Around 60,000 people fled northern Israel and only a portion have returned, while in Lebanon, over one million people fled the South, with around 100,000 still displaced, according to the U.N.
Thousands of Lebanese flooded back to their homes on the day the Israeli army had agreed to have withdrawn from Lebanon, but Israeli soldiers fired at them, killing dozens and maintaining their occupation of border villages for another three weeks.
Report contributed by our correspondent in the South, Muntasser Abdallah