Israeli army continues escalation in south Lebanon and mobilizes reservists

BEIRUT — After a day of heavy escalation in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley on Monday, the Israeli army continued strikes overnight and into Tuesday morning, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced an “intensification” of the offensive and Israel mobilized reservists.

According to Israel’s public broadcaster, the Israeli army has begun calling up reservists, with soldiers demobilized in recent days ordered to rejoin reserve units immediately.

The sustained bombardment that marked Monday, including strikes on Sour and surrounding areas, continued overnight as dozens of villages across southern Lebanon came under attack.

The Nabatieh district was particularly targeted by airstrikes and artillery shelling, according to our correspondent in southern Lebanon, Muntasser Abdallah, who reported at least seven strikes on Yohmor al-Shaqif.

The village, located along the Litani River, lies within the de facto buffer zone established by Israel.

Israeli strikes also targeted Kfar Sir and Deir Zahrani in the Nabatieh district; Kawthariyet al-Rez in the Saida district; Zibqine and Srifa in the Sour district; and Majdal Selm in the Marjayoun district.

Artillery shelling also hit Qaaqaaiyet al-Jisr, the area between Zawtar al-Sharqieh and Mayfadoun, as well as Arnoun and Yohmor al-Shaqif.

Two killed near Saida and casualties mount across the South

During the night, an Israeli strike on a house in Kawthariyet al-Rez, in the Saida district, killed two people and wounded another, according to our correspondent.

Several other strikes also caused injuries. The Israeli army carried out two strikes near the city of Nabatieh, wounding three people who were hospitalized. Around midnight, artillery shelling wounded two people in Shahour, in the Sour district.

In Sharqieh, in the Nabatieh district, rescue teams were unable to reach the site of two strikes on the village square around 3 a.m. because of intensive and continuous Israeli drone flights.

The strikes also caused significant destruction. The Israeli army repeatedly bombed Rihan, in the Jezzine district, particularly around the gendarmerie post, damaging the building and several nearby houses without causing casualties.

Around 2 a.m., Israeli warplanes carried out six consecutive strikes targeting a gas station and several houses in Doueir, in the Nabatieh district. After 4 a.m., two strikes hit houses in Srifa, in the Sour district, while another targeted Arzoun, also in the Sour district.

According to our correspondent, the strike in Arzoun completely destroyed the home of municipal council head Ahmad Mohammad al-Husseini.Israeli strikes kill 12 in Mashghara, Bekaa

In the Bekaa Valley, Israeli airstrikes on Mashghara on Monday evening killed at least 12 people, according to our correspondent Sarah Abdallah. An earlier toll had put the number of dead at five.

Rescue teams were still carrying out clearing operations early Tuesday after Israeli warplanes struck the village at least 10 times.

Among those killed was Sheikh Hussein Rizk, a religious education teacher at Sohmor High School in the western Bekaa. His son, Mohammad Ali, was killed in an Israeli strike in 2024.

Monday had already seen a major military escalation. The Israeli air force carried out 76 strikes targeting 44 locations in southern Lebanon, while drones hit 15 targets across 11 locations and artillery shelling targeted 25 villages.

For its part, Hezbollah claimed responsibility for 22 attacks on Israeli military positions in southern Lebanon and northern Israel.