Residents of Aita al-Shaab walk through the rubble of their village on Jan. 26, 2025. (Credit: Mohammad Yassine/L’Orient-Le Jour)
Two villages in southern Lebanon received evacuation threats Thursday, though their authenticity could not be confirmed, and Israeli drone strikes targeted two bulldozers in Aita al-Shaab — escalating tensions despite a cease-fire agreed in November 2024 that continues to be violated daily by Israel.
On Thursday afternoon, residents in the Samouka neighborhood of Jibsheet (Nabatieh district) evacuated after receiving a threatening call from a phone number with an African country code, warning that a house in the area would be bombed. The warning prompted evacuations throughout the neighborhood, including nearby schools. It remains unclear whether the threat originated from the Israeli army. The Lebanese Army has opened an investigation to determine the source of the call.
UNIFIL denies role in evacuation orders
A similar incident occurred Wednesday evening in Yater (Bint Jbeil district), where a building was struck by Israeli fire shortly after a threat call, according to L'Orient Today's correspondent.
On Thursday morning, rumors circulated in Aita al-Shaab (Bint Jbeil) about an evacuation order allegedly relayed by U.N. peacekeepers. Residents claimed the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) had warned of an impending Israeli strike on a specific target in the village.
UNIFIL denied those claims in a statement: “The reports that UNIFIL peacekeepers asked residents of Aita al-Shaab and other southern Lebanese villages to leave are false and unfounded,” said UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti.
Contacted by L’Orient-Le Jour, the Lebanese Army said it did not have sufficient information to comment. UNIFIL also did not address the Jibsheet incident, as the village lies north of the Litani River, outside the force’s area of operations.
Israeli strikes target reconstruction vehicles
Israeli drones on Thursday targeted two bulldozers in Aita al-Shaab, disrupting early reconstruction efforts, according to our correspondent.
On April 6, a similar strike in Zibqine (Sour district) killed two people and injured several others. That incident echoed previous attacks, including helicopter raids on prefabricated municipal offices in Yaroun (Bint Jbeil district) and more recent strikes on Naqoura (Sour district), where engineers and municipal workers from the Council for the South were conducting damage assessments.
Last week, Israeli soldiers reportedly infiltrated the village of Kfar Kila (Marjayoun district) and posted a warning on the wall of a house under reconstruction, ordering the resident to stop the work on what they described as a "Hezbollah installation." The message threatened the resident and their family if the work continued.
Also on Thursday, shots were fired from the Israeli-controlled portion of Ghajar, a village straddling the Blue Line, targeting a civilian vehicle near Wazzani (Marjayoun district). No injuries were reported.
Separately, a sweep operation with automatic weapons fire was reported from the Israeli military site at Tallet al-Hamames, south of Khiam — one of five areas of Lebanese territory still occupied by Israel. The sound of machine guns was heard in neighboring villages, according to our correspondent.