A bulldozer from the Lebanese Army filling in excavation works by the Israeli army near Odaisseh in South Lebanon, on May 29, 2025. (Credit: X/@lebarmyofficial)
The Israeli army destroyed olive groves in the Mais al-Jabal region in southern Lebanon with bulldozers from Wednesday night to Friday, during a nighttime incursion, according to reports from L'Orient Today's correspondent.
Around 11:30 p.m. on Wednesday night, an Israeli infantry force entered Lebanese territory in the Kouroum al-Mrah area to the east of Mais al-Jabal (Marjayoun) and conducted searches near the barbed wire fence before withdrawing from the area, according to local sources.
Lebanese Army deployed on site
At around 11:50 p.m., another Israeli patrol, consisting of two bulldozers and two vehicles, crossed the technical barrier in the Kouroum al-Sharaqi area, also to the east of Mais al-Jabal, and destroyed olive groves with bulldozers, then dug a large trench and built a mound of earth. The Lebanese Army was deployed on site and, according to security sources, is expected to soon backfill the works carried out by the Israeli army.
Experts contacted last week by L'Orient-Le Jour stated that the "soil embankments" regularly erected during Israeli nighttime incursions serve to create "buffer zones" by preventing access to certain lands, although these measures are "temporary." This is despite the fact that Israel continues to illegally occupy five positions in Lebanese territory, even though the cease-fire agreement with Lebanon, which ended 13 months of war, stipulated the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon. Despite this cease-fire agreement, Israel still regularly bombs Lebanon, particularly the south and, to a lesser extent, the Bekaa, in a series of strikes or assassinations.
This was the case on Thursday morning in Qalawieh, where an Israeli army drone targeted a van near the village school, causing at least one victim whose health status was not immediately known, according to L'Orient-Le Jour's correspondent.