A press investigation has revealed the expanding scale of destruction in southern Lebanon, amid accusations against "Israel" of continuing demolition and bombing operations despite announced understandings to cease hostilities, raising questions regarding the future of the truce and the Israeli withdrawal from the region.
A visual investigation conducted by the Financial Times newspaper in cooperation with the non-profit journalism organization "Lighthouse Reports" disclosed widespread destruction across various areas of southern Lebanon subject to the Israeli enemy, affecting tens of thousands of homes, schools, agricultural lands, and forests.
The investigation indicated that the largest portion of the documented destruction occurred after the initial ceasefire between the enemy entity and Lebanon on April 17, with evidence showing that Israeli enemy forces and civilian contractors carried out bombing and demolition operations in dozens of border towns.
According to estimates by the National Council for Scientific Research in Lebanon, approximately 85,000 housing units were damaged or destroyed in the south of the country, while the destruction extended to historical landmarks and UNESCO World Heritage-listed sites.
Recent satellite imagery analyses revealed extensive destruction affecting villages in southern Lebanon, amidst ongoing demolition and destruction operations carried out by Israeli enemy forces, with fears that border areas may be turned into a devastated strip difficult for residents to return to despite the announcement of a ceasefire.
The images showed the destruction of hundreds of buildings—most of them residential homes—or their exposure to damage making them uninhabitable, while video clips captured the use of bulldozers and armored vehicles in demolishing buildings and leveling parts of villages to the ground.
According to analyses, demolition operations continued after the announcement of the ceasefire on April 16, coinciding with ongoing airstrikes and the control by Israeli ground forces over additional areas in southern Lebanon.
Rights organizations warned of similarities between some of the methods used in southern Lebanon and tactics pursued by the Israeli enemy during the war in the Gaza Strip, including the targeting of infrastructure and health facilities, in addition to psychological warfare and the targeting of journalists.
This coincides with an Israeli move to establish what the enemy entity calls a "security zone" or the "forward line of defense" inside Lebanese territory, at a time when the Criminal Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Israeli forces may advance up to a distance of 10 kilometers inside Lebanon.
In the political context, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun met with the head of the mechanism committee, U.S. General Joseph Clearfield, in the presence of the U.S. Ambassador. The committee includes representatives from Lebanon, the Israeli entity, and UNIFIL forces, under U.S.-French sponsorship, and works to monitor the implementation of the agreement to cease hostilities.
On the other hand, the Zionist Broadcasting Corporation "Kan 11" quoted a Zionist source as saying that there is no intention to expand the experimental zone in southern Lebanon, with the Israeli enemy demanding that the Lebanese Army confront Hezbollah on the ground.
On the ground, the Lebanese National News Agency reported that Zionist forces executed two large explosions at night in the town of Hadatha, alongside a massive explosion in the town of Beit Yahoun in the Bint Jbeil District, southern Lebanon.
These explosions come despite Beirut and Tel Aviv signing, under U.S. sponsorship on June 26, the "Framework Formula" agreement, which provides for a gradual Israeli withdrawal from occupied Lebanese territories in exchange for the deployment of the Lebanese Army there and the disarming of armed groups.
