Rubble in a street in the Kafa'at neighborhood, in the southern suburbs of Beirut, after an Israeli bombing, March 17, 2026. (Credit: AFP)
As the Israeli army continued its strikes on southern Lebanon and advanced on several fronts during the night from Monday to Tuesday, infantry soldiers abducted and detained a resident of Kfar Shuba, in the eastern border sector, for several hours, our correspondent reports.
Israeli soldiers infiltrated this village in the Hasbaya district around 1:30 a.m., searched several houses, and detained a resident, Qassem Qadri, at his home. The soldiers then withdrew to their positions on the disputed heights of this village. Qadri was eventually released in the morning.
This is the first time such an action has taken place since the start of the Israeli war on Lebanon on March 2. However, a similar operation occurred during the night of Feb. 8–9, when Israeli soldiers arrested in the middle of the night an official from Jamaa Islamiya, a party allied with Hamas in Lebanon, in Hebbarieh near Kfar Shuba.
Throughout the night from Monday to Tuesday, the Israeli army continued its air strikes and artillery fire, according to local and security sources cited by our correspondent. It carried out two strikes on the heights of Jabal al-Rafih around the Rihan hills and two others on the al-Aroush quarry, which had already been targeted the previous day, in Aramta (Jezzine district), as well as a series of bombings in other southern regions.
In the morning, about an hour and a half after issuing an evacuation order, the Israeli army shelled a building located in the village of Arab al-Jall, in the Saida district of southern Lebanon, which was hit for the first time since the start of the war, our correspondent reports.
This building was described as “Hezbollah infrastructure” in a statement published on X by the Israeli army’s Arabic-speaking spokesperson.
Clashes in Taybeh
An overnight Israeli airstrike also targeted Taybeh (Marjayoun), accompanied by artillery and heavy machine-gun fire from Israeli positions inside Lebanese territory, in the so-called Taybeh area.
During the night, Hezbollah reported attacks in response to the Israeli army’s advance in this sector, following the announcement of a ground offensive “inspired by the one carried out in Gaza,” according to the Israelis.
Hezbollah stated it targeted a Merkava tank in Taybeh at 1:45 a.m. with a guided missile in the Taybeh area. “The Israeli army evacuated its losses under a smoke screen, then the area was again shelled with mortars and rockets,” according to a statement from the party.
Fifteen minutes later, another tank was “directly hit in the same place, bringing to five the number of tanks targeted since Monday evening.” Hezbollah also said it fired a volley of rockets at 12:45 a.m. at a gathering of Israeli soldiers in Jdeidet Marjayoun and another south of Maroun al-Ras.
A few hours later, the Israeli army announced that troops from the “36th Division” had started conducting operations in southern Lebanon. “Forces from the 36th Division have joined the concentrated and expanded ground operation in southern Lebanon ... in order to expand the advanced defense zone in northern Israel ... and create an additional security belt for northern residents,” the army stated on X, adding that they were operating “alongside the 91st Division.” A few days earlier, it had already announced the redeployment of the Golani Brigade from the Gaza Strip to southern Lebanon.
Evacuation of Siddiqine Residents
The Israeli army again, on Tuesday morning, repeated its call to evacuate the entire area south of the Zahrani River. By once again posting the map of the threatened area — which covers territory stretching from the border down to the south of Saida — Israeli Arabic language spokesperson Avichay Adraee reminded that “strikes continue with great intensity” on Hezbollah infrastructure in this area, urging residents to move north of the river. For several days now, residents of villages in this region have left after alleged phone threats from the Israeli army.
The Lebanese Army evacuated the remaining families in Siddiqine (Sour district) in recent hours after receiving Israeli calls demanding the village’s evacuation.
On the night from Monday to Tuesday, a dawn bombardment struck an apartment in Dohat Aramoun, a locality south of Beirut in the Aley district. The Health Ministry reported that the raid wounded a woman from Ethiopia. This village has been shelled several times since March 2. Two Israeli strikes also targeted southern Beirut overnight, near the Kafa'at roundabout on the Hadi Nasrallah Highway and near al-Sahel Hospital in Haret Hreik. The Israeli army claimed to have carried out “a series of strikes simultaneously” in Tehran and Beirut.
