Israeli army expands its attacks beyond the "yellow line" in southern Lebanon
The Israeli military confirmed Tuesday (May 26th) that it has expanded its ground operations against Hezbollah, crossing the "yellow line" it has set in the villages it occupies in southern Lebanon.
In a statement attributed to a military official, the army said it was acting "in a directed manner beyond the front line with the aim of eliminating the direct threats to the citizens of the State of Israel and to the soldiers, in accordance with the directives of the political leadership."
In southern Lebanon, the Lebanese Ministry of Health reported that a medic was killed and two others were injured in an Israeli strike on the town of Sarifa.
Hezbollah also announced that it had confronted an Israeli force that advanced towards an area overlooking the city of Nabatieh, at a time when Israeli airstrikes targeted the city after issuing a warning to its residents to evacuate it and head north.
Targets in the Bekaa and night operations
The Israeli military said it had shelled "more than 100 infrastructure" and elements affiliated with Hezbollah in the Bekaa Valley, eastern Lebanon, and various areas in the south, noting that sites in Mashgara "where Hezbollah activity was observed ."
He said he had destroyed "more than 90 weapons depots, command headquarters, observation posts and infrastructure" belonging to the party, he claimed.
In a separate statement, the Israeli army announced that it had intercepted drones launched by Hezbollah towards Israeli territory without recording any casualties, while Hezbollah announced new attacks on Israeli targets in southern Lebanon on Tuesday.
Hizbullah declares the "Six No's": A categorical rejection of normalization
In a statement on Tuesday on the occasion of the centenary of the Lebanese constitution, Hizbullah stressed its adherence to the option of "resistance" and its rejection of any path that leads to normalization with Israel, stressing that these constants are part of Lebanon's "national identity" and there is no room for retreat from them.
The party announced what it described as the "six nos", which it said are non-negotiable and include the rejection of: partition, federalization, resettlement, foreign tutelage, disarming the resistance, and normalization, considering that these projects contradict the essence of the constitution and the idea of one Lebanon.
The statement stressed that Lebanon is "the ultimate homeland for all its children" and cannot be built on "sectarian cantons or bullying abroad", stressing that the current stage requires adherence to the amended constitution after the Taif Agreement as the main reference for regulating disputes and preserving the unity and sovereignty of the state. "The time of the Mandate, high commissioners and foreign trustees is over and will not return," he added.
Rejection of dismantling projects
The party said projects such as "federalization, division and resettlement" pose a threat to the country's unity, and turn Lebanese diversity into a "tool of conflict and internal warfare," warning against any path that reproduces historical divisions.
On the domestic front, the party called for the implementation of all the provisions of the Taif Agreement, including constitutional reforms, especially the abolition of political sectarianism, considering that the current regime "is no longer capable of producing a just, effective and stable state."
Resistance as a "National Right"
The party reiterated its adherence to the option of resistance, stressing that confronting the Israeli occupation is a "legitimate national right" protected by the constitution and Arab and international conventions, and that any attempt to remove the "elements of power" from Lebanon represents a "violation of the Taif Document."
He pointed out that the Taif Agreement and the 1949 armistice agreement define the relationship with Israel as "a relationship of hostility, occupation and constant threat," rejecting any path to normalization or recognition of the fait accompli.
The party concluded its statement by calling for the centenary of the constitution to be used as an opportunity to "restore the state from deficit and sovereignty from dependence," and to build a "united, sovereign and independent" Lebanon, away from projects of dismantling or foreign tutelage.
What are the "yellow line" zones?
The "Yellow Line" in Lebanon refers to a new buffer zone created by the Israeli army in the south, and this line represents the geographical extent reached by Israeli forces and the villages they control on the ground, and aims to impose a new security reality that prevents the return of the Lebanese population to those areas.
The line extends within Lebanese territory and includes about 55 villages in southern Lebanon and extends in some points to reach the "third row line" of villages, such as the town of Rishaf in the central sector and Deir Syrian in the eastern sector. Especially after the violations that were recorded, from artillery shelling on Tal Nahas, the outskirts of Dermimas and Deir Syrian, to the massive bombings in Bint Jbeil, Muska, and Taybeh, and the launch of thermal balloons in some villages in the eastern sector.
The IDF aims to impose a buffer zone that prevents "direct threats" to its forces, while continuing to destroy what it describes as "military infrastructure" within the zone even during periods of ceasefires, and is different from other border terms in Lebanon, such as the Blue Line, drawn by the United Nations as the 2000 line of withdrawal.