Smoke rises from fires triggered by Israeli strikes that targeted the Marjayoun plain, in southern Lebanon, on Aug. 25, 2026. (Credit: AFP)
SOUTH LEBANON — A day after deadly Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon, the Israeli army continued its demolition operations and artillery fire across several parts of the region on Friday, carrying out airstrikes in the early evening on the strategic heights of Ali Taher and Dohat Kfar Roummane. From dawn, Israeli soldiers moved toward Houla (Marjayoun), in the direction of Wadi Slouqi, in a maneuver accompanied by artillery and sweeping machine-gun fire, according to our correspondent in the region.
In the middle of the afternoon, a major demolition operation carried out by Israeli forces shook the Marjayoun region, near Tallousseh. A few kilometers away, a house was demolished in Robb al-Thalathine, while further demolitions were carried out in the nearby village of Markaba, as well as in Arnoun. The occupying forces also started a fire in the vicinity of Aita al-Jabal, in the Bint Jbeil district. Shortly afterward, Israeli artillery fire hit the outskirts of Kfar Roummane (Nabatieh) and Houla (Marjayoun). In the latter village, Israeli soldiers were seen placing canisters of explosives inside certain homes. Late in the evening, Israeli military vehicles were also observed moving in Rashaf (Bint Jbeil).
The night from Thursday to Friday had already been particularly turbulent. Along one of the main axes of Israeli operations, in Mansouri (Sour) in the western sector of southern Lebanon, Israeli soldiers carried out a major demolition operation at dawn, with the explosion shaking the region. The village also came under Israeli fire during the day. In the Nabatieh area, the heights of Ali Taher, which overlook, among other areas, the Finger of Galilee, as well as Dohat Kfar Roummane, were hit by artillery fire. Shortly after midnight, a powerful explosion shook the area of Aita al-Shaab and Haddatha (Bint Jbeil), followed by another explosion in Zawtar Sharqieh (Nabatieh). Helicopters also conducted sweeps over Qantara and Wadi Slouqi (Marjayoun). Wadi Hujeir (Bint Jbeil) was hit by artillery fire.
Despite a "lower level" of violence than at the start of the year, the situation in southern Lebanon remains "fragile," the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said. Between Aug. 21 and 27, U.N. peacekeepers recorded 1,030 projectile trajectories, an average of 147 per day. The Lebanese Ministry of Health said in its latest toll that the Israeli offensive from March 2 through Aug. 28 had killed 4,352 people and injured 12,318. On Thursday, the Israeli army bombed the village of Arab Salim, in the northern part of the Nabatieh district, outside the area occupied by Israel in southern Lebanon, killing a woman and injuring six people.
Additional reporting by our correspondent in the South, Muntasser Abdallah.