View of Hebbarieh, a village in the Arkoub region located near Kfar Shuba, in southern Lebanon. (Credit: Mohammad Yassine/L'Orient Today archive photo)
SOUTH LEBANON — Kfar Shuba Mayor Kassem Kadri was briefly detained Saturday evening by the Israeli army before being released an hour later, our regional correspondent who spoke to the mayor reported, as Israeli attacks continued across southern Lebanon.
Kadri said he encountered Israeli soldiers while inspecting the village’s artesian well shortly before sunset. The soldiers then approached him to propose quid-pro-quo collaboration. They asked if he knew the locations of Hezbollah bases in the area and offered him and the residents of the region "cooperation, accompanied by financial aid if he wished."
"We are at your service," the Israeli soldiers told the mayor, our correspondent reports. Kadri told them that the residents of Kfar Shuba are exclusively loyal to the Lebanese state and that his authority falls solely under the latter. He added that such collaboration was out of the question. The official stated his detention lasted about an hour, emphasizing that he was subjected to neither insult nor violence during that time.
Kfar Shuba, a Sunni village in the Hasbaya region of south Lebanon, remains inhabited despite the Israeli presence in the area. Last June, the Israeli army briefly captured a municipal member and a municipal employee.
Israeli strikes hit Ali Taher and other areas in the South
On Sunday morning, several Israeli strikes targeted Mount Ali Taher in the Nabatieh district. One of the strikes targeted an Israeli robot in the area aiming to destroy it, while another hit an area between Dabsheh and Ali Taher. The Israeli army had announced “operational control” over the ridge before carrying out a massive detonation reportedly targeting Hezbollah tunnels on Thursday.
Also in the Nabatieh district, artillery fire was reported on Zawtar Sharqieh, also in Nabatieh, accompanied by automatic weapon fire and dynamiting in the occupied village. Several strikes also took place in Nabatieh Fawqa and Kfar Tibnit.
In the Marjayoun district, Israeli artillery hit Tallousa, near Wadi Slouqi. Also in the same district, Israeli army vehicles were also seen advancing in Qantara, near Baydar Jneijil, and in an area between Houla and Wadi Slouqi.
In addition, Israeli occupying troops set several homes on fire in Wadi Slouqi (Marjayoun) and Beit Yahoun (Bint Jbeil).
Israel's systematic destruction of homes and structures in areas its troops occupied continued with explosions reported in Mansour (Sour), Zawtar Sharqieh (Nabatieh) and Kounin (Bint Jbeil). And Israeli artillery fire shelled Nabatieh Fawqa (Nabatieh), Mansouri, and Wadi Zebqine (Sour).
Israel also fired stun grenades at Kfar Tibnit and Braasheet (Nabatieh). Later, several airstrikes targeted Qantara (Marjayoun).
Overnight, Israeli airstrikes targeted Mansouri, Wadi Zebqine (Sour), as well as Zawtar Sharqieh, Mayfadoun, Kfar Tibnit and Nabatieh Fawqa (Nabatieh district). Additional strikes targeted Mais al-Jabal, Wadi Hujeir and Qantara (Marjayoun). In the same district, Israeli artillery hit Houla which it then targeted with automatic weapons fire and a strike in Wadi Slouqi around midnight. Several homes were dynamited and demolished in the western district of Khiam.
Also on Saturday in the Bint Jbeil district, Israeli strikes targeted Shaqra, while artillery fire hit Srebbine. In the same district, Israeli army booby-trapped and demolished buildings in Beit Yahoun and while automatic weapon fire hit Haddatha.
Reporting contributed by our correspondent in southern Lebanon, Muntasser Abdallah.