A car in flames after being targeted by an Israeli drone strike in the village of Mansouri, South Lebanon, on Nov. 16, 2025. (Credit: Photo provided by our correspondent Mountasser Abdallah)
SOUTH LEBANON — An Israeli drone strike targeted the vehicle of Mohammad Ali Shweikh, a native of Mansouri (Sour) and principal of the village school, at around 11 p.m., according to our south Lebanon correspondent. Hezbollah later acknowledged that the victim was one of its officials.
In a post on X, the Israeli army’s Arabic-language spokesperson Avichay Adraee claimed, without evidence, that Shweikh was a "local representative" of Hezbollah and that he was "responsible for managing relations between the party and the villagers on military and economic issues."
'War of several days'
Reacting to the targeting of the school principal, Education Minister Rima Karameh issued an "appeal to the global conscience and to influential countries to apply the principle of neutrality to schools, teachers, and students."
She also called on "school officials to persevere in their resistance and diligent educational work, and to remain united in their determination to advance education in Lebanon in the face of this ruthless aggression."
Despite a cease-fire reached in November 2024, following more than a year of hostilities with Hezbollah, Israel continues to carry out near-daily attacks in southern Lebanon and in the Bekaa, accusing the pro-Iranian group of seeking to rebuild its military capabilities.
In this tense context, Israeli channel 13 reported Sunday that the Israeli security establishment "recommends a war in Lebanon that could last several days."
Aitaroun, target of intense shelling
On Monday morning, the village of Aitaroun (Bint Jbeil) was the target of intense Israeli artillery shelling. At around 11 a.m., an Israeli drone fired four stun grenades on the village. Faced with these repeated attacks, residents confined themselves to their homes on the orders of the municipality, which also requested businesses to close.
According to our correspondent, the municipality had been informed in advance by the security forces that a local target was going to be targeted by the Israeli army. It then evacuated its headquarters and took all necessary precautions. The Lebanese Army also plans to establish a new post in the Khanouk area of Aitaroun to strengthen its presence and deployment on its outskirts.
In the afternoon, the Lebanese Ministry of Health reported that a citizen had been wounded in Kfar Shuba, in the Hasbaya district, by a grenade dropped from a drone. Our correspondent reported that a small Israeli drone had fired on a shepherd in the same village, killing several sheep.
Throughout the day, Israeli drones were reported flying over the city of Saida and its southern outskirts in Zahrani, as well as over the village of Naqoura (Sour). Low-altitude flights were also observed over Zahle and several villages in the Bekaa. In Beirut, Israeli drones also flew over the capital and its surroundings throughout the day.
For her part, the spokesperson for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), Kandice Ardiel, told local television station LBCI on Monday that a process had begun to reduce the number of peacekeepers deployed on the ground in southern Lebanon due to U.N.-wide budget cuts. She specified that most of the troop withdrawals would take place in the coming weeks. A few hours before these statements, UNIFIL commander General Diodato Abagnara visited the municipality of Naqoura, where he was briefed on the damage and destruction of infrastructure suffered by the village as a result of the recent war, according to a UNIFIL statement.
Despite a cease-fire agreed in November 2024, following more than a year of hostilities with Hezbollah, Israel continues to carry out almost daily attacks in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa, accusing Hezbollah of seeking to rebuild its military capabilities. In this tense context, Israeli Channel 13 reported on Sunday that the Israeli security establishment "recommends a war in Lebanon that could last several days."
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