The village of Mansouri, in south Lebanon, on Aug. 26, 2026. (Credit: Matthieu Karam/L’Orient-Le Jour)
SOUTH LEBANON — Israel bombed the village of Arab Salim, in the northern part of the Nabatieh district and outside the area occupied by Israel in southern Lebanon, early Thursday afternoon, killing a woman and wounding six people, including a mother and her daughter, according to the health ministry.
The unannounced attack targeted a village whose residents had not been evacuated and came after the Israeli army accused Hezbollah of launching “two booby-trapped drones” toward its troops overnight on Ali Taher hill, which Israeli forces have encircled and where they say the party has a base and fighters.
The center of the village was bombed several times and several homes were completely destroyed, according to our correspondent in the south. Arab Salim is located about seven kilometers north of the nearest point of the “yellow line” marking the buffer zone occupied by Israel. Drone strikes also targeted Nabatieh Fawqa.
Shortly beforehand, the Israeli army accused Hezbollah of launching two “booby-trapped drones” overnight Wednesday to Thursday toward its troops operating “in the area of the Ali Taher heights.” One of the drones was shot down, while contact with the second was lost, according to a post on X by Israeli military Arabic-language spokesperson Lt. Col. Ella Waweya, who said no soldiers were wounded.
The army “will not allow Hezbollah to operate against its forces in the security zone,” she added, referring to the “buffer zone” unilaterally established by Israel over more than 620 square kilometers of Lebanese territory. Earlier, Israeli Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir said the military was preparing “operational plans on all fronts, from Iran to Lebanon and Gaza,” and that it remained on high alert over the risk of a multi-front escalation.
The last time Israel accused Hezbollah of launching a drone in the same area, on Aug. 15, the Israeli army retaliated with strikes on the villages of Ansar and Deir Zahrani, north of the Litani River, killing 11 people, including children. According to the army, the strikes targeted commanders from Hezbollah’s Badr unit and elite al-Radwan force.
Heavy strikes and white phosphorus on Ali Taher
The latest escalation continued into the late afternoon. The Israeli air force carried out airstrikes on several villages in the South, including Mansouri (Sour), Braasheet (Bint Jbeil), the Convent neighborhood in Nabatieh Fawqa, and the outskirts of Kfar Roummane near Ali Taher (Nabatieh). Drones also bombed the industrial zone in Dohat Kfar Roummane and Kfar Roummane (Nabatieh). Artillery fire hit Khiam (Marjayoun), Wadi Houjeir, Haris, Haddatha and Rshaf (Bint Jbeil), as well as Mansouri, while military vehicles were seen moving near Haddatha toward Haris (Bint Jbeil).
The escalation came after the Israeli air force carried out several heavy airstrikes on the Ali Taher heights Thursday morning. According to our correspondent, two missiles with powerful explosive charges were dropped on the strategic heights, causing doors to shake in homes in Kfar Roummane and Nabatieh.
Artillery fire also targeted the outskirts of Mayfadoun, another village in the Nabatieh district. The village had already been targeted in an airstrike overnight. During the night, artillery fire involving white phosphorus also targeted Dohat Kfar Roummane, below Ali Taher.
Lebanese Army deploys to Touline
The Lebanese Army deployed to Touline, opposite Israeli positions in Qantara and Wadi Houjeir, as part of efforts to strengthen its presence and monitor the border area, according to our correspondent.
The Israeli army has continued to push its attacks farther, carrying out fire and strikes along and beyond the “yellow line.” In the eastern sector, below the occupied Golan Heights plateau, two Israeli army Merkava tanks and several military vehicles advanced to the outskirts of Kfar Shuba, where soldiers raised an Israeli flag at the location known as Shamis and fired automatic weapons. Kfar Shuba is a predominantly Sunni village that has remained inhabited in recent months despite Israel’s occupation of more than 620 square kilometers of Lebanese territory in the south.
On the two other main axes of the attacks, in Mansouri on the coast south of Sour, the Israeli army notably demolished homes between Mansouri and Byout al-Siyad, dropped explosive charges and carried out an airstrike. Beyond the line marking the buffer zone, a drone dropped a stun grenade in the Ezzieh valley, on the outskirts of Haniyeh in the Sour district. Haniyeh is located about two kilometers northeast of Mansouri.
On the other axis, in the Bint Jbeil region of the central sector, Israeli forces fired automatic weapons at Aita al-Jabal, blew up and set fire to homes in Haddatha, and fired artillery at the outskirts of Braasheet and Beit Yahoun. In Haris, a locality north of Haddatha on the “yellow line,” where troop movements and artillery attacks have been reported repeatedly in recent days, rescuers from the Islamic Mission Scouts association (al-Rissala, affiliated with the Amal movement) were able to evacuate a family that was still inside a house surrounded by Israeli forces. Artillery fire also targeted the Hujeir valley, on the slope bordering Ghandourieh in the Bint Jbeil district, also outside the buffer zone.
Rai calls for preventing further escalation
On Wednesday evening, during a Mass in Kfar Sghab, in the Zgharta district, Maronite Patriarch Bechara Rai addressed the situation in southern Lebanon, saying that “the priority remains protecting the population and preventing any further escalation, so that stability can return to villages and homes, and residents can remain on their land safely and with dignity.”
The religious leader also said that “negotiations must lead to concrete results and be accompanied by genuine seriousness in their implementation, as well as respect for commitments made.” “People no longer judge the situation by the number of meetings held, but by what is actually achieved on the ground,” he added.
Rai called for “a full presence across the entire national territory, a legitimate and clear decision, and institutions capable of protecting rights and enforcing the law.” “It is time to move from exchanging accusations to concrete decisions that serve the national interest,” he said, also calling for “serious measures to restore citizens’ confidence in institutions and demonstrate that reform is not merely a slogan.”