Amid ongoing direct diplomatic talks between Lebanon and Israel, and as the Israeli cabinet has refused to implement a cease-fire, the Israeli army expanded its invasion in southern Lebanese territory on Wednesday evening by pushing toward Debbine, a village in the eastern sector north of Khiam, just one kilometer from the Litani River.
This advance comes as Israeli soldiers continue ground fighting with Hezbollah, which is completely surrounded in the center of Bint Jbeil, though the group claimed the previous day to have carried out "ambushes" in this city at the center of the border strip.
In the western sector, the Israeli army continues to reinforce its positions on the coastline, from where it has been firing artillery shells since last weekend, some of which have reached villages in the Saida district.
An update on the Israeli invasion with maps, as of the morning of April 16, 2026.
The western sector
In the district of Sour, the Israeli army controls Naqoura, Shamaa, and Bayyada and does not appear willing to push further, despite repeated attacks on the village of Mansouri, located just a few kilometers north of Bayyada.
The Israelis are strengthening their positions in this sector, with increased destruction of buildings reported in Naqoura, where the Israeli army also obstructed the passage of a United Nations Interim Force (UNIFIL) convoy that was heading to the Blue Helmets’ headquarters.
The Israelis have installed, apparently at Bayyada and Dhamaa, artillery pieces which they use to target the Saida region, with shelling reported last weekend in villages like Kharayeb, 20 kilometers from the border. It was the first time artillery of such range had been reported in Lebanon.
The central sector
In Bint Jbeil, a highly symbolic city considered the "capital of Hezbollah," the center remains surrounded by Israeli forces positioned around the main souk, about 600 meters away. The party-militia, whose fighters are caught in this pocket in the city center, continues defending its positions and also announced it launched a series of rocket attacks on Israeli vehicles and soldiers in the city, as well as an ambush on Tuesday morning against a unit from the 101st Battalion of the Paratroopers Brigade that was trying to advance from Maroun al-Ras toward the southwestern quarters of Bint Jbeil.
On Monday the Israelis claimed to have taken control of the city stadium, where former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, assassinated in 2024, delivered the "victory speech" after the Israeli withdrawal in 2000. Since the start of the week, images of massive destruction in the locality have been circulating. Bint Jbeil divides in two the "anti-tank line," an eight-kilometer deep buffer zone that Israel is trying to establish in southern Lebanon.
The eastern sector
It is in the Marjayoun district, in the eastern sector, that the Israelis carried out a significant push from Wednesday evening, moving toward Debbine, a locality north of Khiam. Fighting has been taking place between Hezbollah and the Israelis in northern Khiam in recent days.
According to local sources for our correspondent, for the first time since early March, detonations from ongoing clashes were heard Thursday evening at the entrance to the locality, near the industrial zone. The area had previously been subject to intense artillery bombardment for an hour and was shelled 11 times on Wednesday.
Debbine is located a few 100 meters north of Jdeidet Marjayoun, a still inhabited village where locals, according to one contacted by our correspondent, received a voice message apparently from the Israeli army. In this “official message from the Israeli army,” a man called on Marjayoun residents not to move northward because of ongoing military operations in the area.
Debbine is just over a kilometer in a straight line from the closest point on the banks of the Litani. The advance came as the Israeli army had withdrawn from two villages that it had previously razed, in the Marjayoun district: Deir Siryan and Qantara. Earlier Thursday, Hezbollah claimed to have attacked a new Israeli push toward Qantara from Taybeh, saying it had “destroyed” several vehicles.
A new front in western Bekaa?
If the Israelis continue their advance in the eastern sector, they could push deeper toward Mount Rihan (Jezzine district) which borders western Bekaa and was subjected to heavy bombardment during the cease-fire period. The objective: to access from this region the rest of the Bekaa, where Hezbollah's main weapons depots are believed to be located. On Monday, the Israelis struck the locality of Sohmor in this district.
To reach their goal on this front, the Israelis could progress along two main axes in the eastern sector: from Khiam and Marjayoun toward Kawkaba and Dalafa, and from the far east, from Kfar Shuba toward Kfar Hammam and Hebbarieh, up to Rashaya al-Foukhar and Ferdis in the Hasbaya district, so as to reach areas facing key localities in western Bekaa such as Zellaya and Maidoun. They could also count in this battle on positions they hold on the Syrian side of the border, in Mount Hermon.
