Israel destroys entire villages in Lebanon

The Israeli military has demolished entire villages as part of its invasion of south Lebanon, rigging homes with explosives and razing them to the ground in massive remote detonations.

According to The Guardian, Israel carried out mass detonations in Taybeh, Naqoura and Deir Seryan villages along the Israel-Lebanon border. Lebanese media has reported more mass detonations in other border villages, but satellite imagery was not readily available to verify claims.

The demolitions came after Israel’s minister of defence, Israel Katz, called for the destruction of “all houses” in border villages “in accordance with the model used in Rafah and Beit Hanoun in Gaza” to stop threats to communities in northern Israel. The Israeli military destroyed 90% of homes in Rafah, south Gaza.

The tactic of mass destruction of homes in Gaza, where Israel has been accused of committing genocide, was described as domicide by academics, a strategy used to systematically destroy and damage civilian housing to render entire areas uninhabitable.

The Israeli military has said they are targeting Hezbollah infrastructure such as tunnels and military facilities, which it claims the armed group has embedded in civilian homes, through these demolitions.

Israel has said it will occupy vast swathes of south Lebanon, establishing a “security zone” in the entire area up to the Litani River, and displaced people would not be allowed to return to homes till the safety of Israel’s northern cities is guaranteed, prompting concern there will be long-term displacement.

Rights groups have said mass remote detonations could amount to wanton destruction: a war crime. 

Since Israel launched the war on Feb 28, it has killed at least 3,000 people in Iran, 2,020 in Lebanon, 23 in Israel and more than a dozen in the Gulf countries.