Rubble in the village of Blida, in the Marjeyoun district, on April 16, 2025. (Credit: Matthieu Karam / L'Orient-Le Jour
According to our correspondent in South Lebanon, citing witnesses, Israeli soldiers entered Blida around 1 a.m. on Thursday and positioned themselves just a few meters from the municipality building. They then fired at the building for 10 to 15 minutes with machine guns, killing Ibrahim Salameh, a worker in his fifties who was sleeping inside.
Israelis infiltrated the border town of Blida in the Marjayoun district, entering a municipal building located in the center of the village, according to several local and regional media outlets. Gunfire was heard, while the Lebanese Army mobilized its units in the area.
The same sources report that Israeli drones are also flying over the area. According to Al-Manar TV, the Lebanese army has initiated contacts with UNIFIL to request their intervention. Al-Mayadeen TV also reported that a municipal employee who was inside the building at the time of the incursion was killed.
On Wednesday, the Israeli army carried out two attacks near the southern border, in what appeared to be a message to the Lebanese army, while on the same day, U.S. envoy Morgan Ortagus urged the military institution to "fully" implement its disarmament plan for Hezbollah, which was presented at a Cabinet meeting on September 5. International pressure is mounting on Lebanese authorities for the state to regain its monopoly on weapons, in other words by disarming the Shiite party, nearly a year after the cease-fire reached with Israel.
Early in the afternoon, Israeli soldiers crossed the Lebanese border and fired on a Lebanese army vehicle between Bastara and Majidieh (Hasbaya district), but no injuries were reported. Later, an Israeli drone dropped a bomb near the Dhaira post (Sour), again with no casualties. The Israeli army did not comment on these two incidents.
These attacks come nearly a year after the cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah on November 27, 2024. During the open war between the pro-Iranian Shiite party-militia and the Israeli army, several Lebanese soldiers, both active and inactive, were killed in bombardments. The Lebanese army, which was not involved in the fighting, responded only once, on October 3, 2024, after Israeli fire targeted one of its centers in Bint Jbeil at the start of the Israeli ground offensive.
