Lebanese field sources confirmed that Israel is moving in its attacks on areas and villages in southern Lebanon from the context of the field confrontation with "Hezbollah" to a more dangerous stage targeting the "urban structure" of the area.
The sources added to Euronews that through explosive bombings and bulldozers led by civilian contractors, Israel is working to level entire villages with the ground, especially on the "first line" of the border.
According to the sources, the declared goal is to dismantle the party's infrastructure, but the actual result is to turn these villages into uninhabitable areas, which prevents the return of the residents and establishes an actual buffer zone that gives the Israeli occupation army full visual and fire control.
Reproduction of the "Gaza Model" in Shiite Villages
The source explained to international media that the talk of a "security zone" is no longer just analyses, but was confirmed by the statements of Israeli Minister of War Yisrael Katz and senior officials in the occupation entity, where what is happening in southern Lebanon was compared to what happened in "Rafah and Beit Hanoun" in the Gaza Strip.
He pointed out that this policy relies on the establishment of buffer belts by removing the residential block near the Lebanese-Palestinian border, and turning it into "burnt land" without landmarks, in a step aimed at ensuring the security of the settlements in the north by destroying the geographical depth of the other side.
Over the past months, dozens of southern towns and villages have been subjected to extensive destruction of homes, residential neighbourhoods, shops, public facilities and places of worship.
In a large number of border villages, the destruction was no longer limited to buildings damaged by the airstrikes, but also extended to deliberate blow-ups of the remaining houses, accompanied by bulldozing, rubble removal and leveling of neighborhoods.
Bulldozers and heavy machinery have also appeared to operate for long hours inside the destroyed villages, with contractors and engineering teams taking part in removing buildings, opening military roads and rehabilitating routes used by Israeli forces inside the border areas.
Isolate the South. Destroying bridges and cutting lifelines
In parallel with the demolition of homes, Israel is implementing a plan to geographically isolate the south from the rest of Lebanon.
The occupation raids focused on the vital bridges over the Litani River and the main roads linking the southern districts to the capital Beirut and the Lebanese mainland.
According to the sources, this destruction of infrastructure, which also affected the electricity, water and sanitation networks, aims to create a repellent environment for the population, so that return, even if the fighting stops, becomes logistically and service-impossible.
These attacks coincided with the gradual expansion of eviction orders to include towns farther from the direct border line, reflecting an Israeli effort to expand the area it wants to keep under military control or depopulated.
In some areas, villages are no longer just towns affected by the war, but have been turned into completely destroyed spaces, from which streets, neighborhoods and main landmarks have disappeared, in a scene that reflects the scale of the transformation that the border region has been witnessing for months.
Escalation on the ground and "under fire" negotiations
On the ground, the air and artillery attacks against Lebanon, especially the south, did not subside throughout the night and dawn on Monday, as towns such as "Yahmar al-Shuqif", "Kafr Tabnit", and "Khiam" witnessed violent raids that resulted in deaths and injuries, while Hezbollah continues its response through puff marches and rockets targeting soldiers' gatherings in al-Bayada and al-Manara.
This escalation comes in conjunction with the upcoming round of negotiations in Washington, where Israel insists on the continuation of the war to impose a new reality, while Lebanon insists on stopping the aggression as the first and main item.