Drones, gunfire and incursion in Aita al-Shaab: Israeli army 'trying to suffocate any form of life'

The Israeli army continued its operations on Wednesday in the border areas of southern Lebanon, targeting several localities despite the cease-fire that came into effect on Nov. 27, 2024.

In Aita al-Shaab (Bint Jbeil), preparations for the funeral of Abdallah Nasser, killed Monday in an Israeli strike, were disrupted from early morning.

According to our correspondent, drones dropped more than five stun grenades, while an Israeli Merkava tank fired two artillery shells toward the outskirts of the village. The funeral ultimately proceeded in the afternoon.

The Israeli army is “trying to suffocate any form of life” in Aita al-Shaab and is “attempting to intimidate us and even prevent us from burying our dead,” Majd Tahini, a local mukhtar (official representative) of the border village, told L’Orient-Le Jour.

Tahini reported “constant drone overflights,” a ground incursion and the firing of two shells by Israeli artillery, “which landed in the village square.” He said Israeli vehicles entered Lebanese territory and advanced about one kilometer near the village. “We are in contact with the army and emergency services to calm the situation,” he added late in the morning.

Shortly afterward, two Lebanese Army patrols arrived, according to our correspondent — one heading toward the outskirts of Qouzah (Bint Jbeil), and the other deploying to monitor the Israeli incursion near Aita al-Shaab.

During the afternoon funeral, the coffin, draped in a Hezbollah flag, was carried by mourners who marched from the village center to the cemetery, holding portraits of the deceased along with Hezbollah and Lebanese flags, preceded by a scout band. Nasser was laid to rest upon arrival at the village cemetery.

House in Blida bombed

On Wednesday afternoon, an Israeli drone targeted a stone quarry in the Hounin Valley, between Adaisseh and Markaba (Marjayoun). Meanwhile, a house on the outskirts of Blida was bombed overnight Tuesday into Wednesday by a quadcopter drone, causing heavy damage. Residents had evacuated hastily after the drone dropped two stun grenades on the roof.

During the same night, the Israeli army fired machine guns mounted on a tank that had crossed the Blue Line toward the outskirts of Yaroun, in the Bint Jbeil district.

Despite the cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah, the Israeli army continues near-daily strikes in Lebanon, particularly in the south. It says it is targeting Hezbollah fighters, which has been disarmed south of the Litani River and is required to surrender its weapons north of the river and elsewhere in the country — a demand the group has so far rejected.

“The Israeli enemy continues its repeated attacks against our town, in blatant violation of Lebanese sovereignty as well as international and humanitarian law,” the municipality of Blida said in a statement.

“Targeting a civilian home sheltering a family and children constitutes a serious escalation and reflects a systematic policy aimed at intimidating residents and forcing them to leave their land,” it added, condemning the attack.

“We reaffirm our residents’ attachment to their land and their right to live safely in their town, and we call on the Lebanese state, along with its military and security forces, to fully assume their responsibilities, immediately ensure the protection of civilians, and put an end to these attacks,” the statement concluded.

Reporting by our regional correspondent, Mountasser Abdallah.