Israel is pushing the war in Lebanon to extremes, ready to resume attacks on Beirut while extending its ground offensive in the south despite growing international condemnation.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz said in a joint statement the military had been instructed to strike “Hezbollah targets” in Beirut's southern suburbs. The Israeli army ordered people to leave the suburbs.
The escalation, which has returned Beirut and its surrounding areas to the line of fire after weeks of relative calm under the so-called ceasefire of April, is linked to the US-Iran talks and is being used to put pressure on Tehran, Lebanese political sources told The National.
The Tasnim news agency later reported that Iran has halted the exchange of messages with the US because of Israel's operations in Lebanon. It said the Iranian negotiating team suspended contact because Lebanon was included in the ceasefire, which Tehran believes has been breached.
The suspension comes as Israel carries out its more extensive invasion into Lebanon in 26 years, including the occupation of Beaufort Castle – a strategic vantage point in Nabatieh district that overlooks the Litani river.
Hezbollah was still fighting off the Israeli army from the castle, it said in a statement on Monday, adding that it was waging a “war of attrition” on troops.
Israel continued heavy bombardment of the north and west of Nabatieh while troops attempted to advance from the south and east in what appears to be an effort to encircle Nabatieh city.
“This is a clear escalation,” a French diplomat told The National. The situation was very “worrying” and increasingly resembled that of Gaza, with Israel willing to take “whatever measures it deems necessary to ensure the security of its northern residents”, they said.
Israel's offensive includes entering areas of the district for the first time in decades, including Chqif, Zawtar, Yahmor and Arnoun, according to the government-affiliated Lebanese Civil Defence.
Hussein Dakduk, head of the Nabatieh Civil Defence branch, said Israeli troops were "now visible in Arnoun”, a village 7km from Nabatieh city.
Civilians in dozens of southern Lebanese towns – including the major cities of Tyre and Nabatieh – have been forced to leave amid Israel’s forced displacement orders and an air campaign. More than a million people have been displaced since the war resumed on March 2, the Lebanese government said.
“There are no civilians remaining in Nabatieh,” said Mahdi Sadek, head of the Nabatieh Ambulance Association. “We evacuated the remaining people five days ago. As far as we know, Nabatieh is completely empty.”
Only some villages in Nabatieh's outskirts remain populated. “We are staying for now to cover these areas,” he added.
Also completely depopulated are the villages of Kfar Sir, Qsaybeh, Mariyah, Jibchit, Harouf, Toul, Nabatieh, Chouki and Mayfadoun, according to Lebanon’s government-affiliated Civil Defence service.
Paramedical associations have had to limit their operations as Israeli troops push closer to Nabatieh. They now respond mostly to mass casualty strikes and are ready only in the daytime for rescue missions in tandem with other paramedic groups such as the Red Cross. Smaller casualty events – where one or two people are killed, potentially fighters – require paramedics to co-ordinate with the Lebanese army, which together must then seek permission from Israel through the US-led “mechanism”.
We can’t leave
Israel’s intensification of its air and ground campaign comes Israel’s military establishment becomes more concerned that Hezbollah’s adaptive use of explosive drones presents major operational challenges.
Hezbollah’s use of FPV drones has “significantly altered the nature of combat”, according to retired Lebanese army Gen Mounir Chehadeh. The use of the drones is an “effective tool for attrition warfare and for increasing the cost of maintaining a military presence.”
The number of Israeli air strikes increased by 110 per cent between May 23 and 26 compared with May 19 to 22, according to Acled, a Lebanon-based conflict monitor. Bassel Doueik, the organisation's Lebanon and Jordan researcher, said the current escalation is partly a response to Hezbollah's successful FPV drone attacks on Israeli troops.
In Dahiyeh, much of which had already been destroyed before the ceasefire, another clearout took place after Mr Netanyahu's latest threats, with many residents forced to flee repeatedly, having previously sought refuge from Israeli air strikes on southern Lebanon.
Haidar Akary, who was displaced to Dahiyeh from the southern village of Blatt near the Israeli border, said he and his family were choosing to stay for the time being.
“We can’t leave. There are no houses [for rent] and we don’t have money,” he told The National. “It’s fine – whatever will be will be.”
Diplomatic push
The Israeli decision came amid continuing talks between Lebanon and Israel, in which Washington proposed a “clear sequence – Hezbollah must stop all attacks on Israel. In return, Israel would refrain from escalation in Beirut. This would create space for gradual de-escalation and an effective cessation of hostilities,” a US official said.
Beirut and its southern suburbs had largely been spared Israeli aggression since April, after the US reassured Lebanese officials that Israel would not target the capital under a US-Iran ceasefire that took effect on April 8.
The ceasefire has been otherwise nominal, with Israel continuing to strike daily and last week intensifying its campaign.
A Hezbollah source accused the US of using diplomatic talks as a way to “drag out the process to give Israel time to strengthen its presence on the ground and make further military advances”.
“The lifting of Beirut's immunity from attack is being used as a pressure tactic,” the source said.
The Hezbollah source added that Lebanon’s invasion “cannot be separated from wider regional developments. Iran remains invested in shaping the balance between settlement and conflict, and any Israeli escalation could be met with regional escalation.”
But the US official said “Hezbollah is following Tehran's lead. It clearly has no interest in the welfare of the Lebanese people. Iran wants to prolong the conflict in Lebanon so it can claim credit for 'saving the day'.”
Against this backdrop, Jean-Yves Le Drian, the French President's special envoy to Lebanon, is due to arrive in Beirut on Wednesday for meetings with Lebanese and international officials.
France, the former mandatory power in Lebanon that still maintains close ties with the country and helped mediate the 2024 ceasefire, is not part of the current round of negotiations between Israel and Lebanon.
Following the military escalation, Paris has hardened its stance against Israel, calling for an emergency UN Security Council meeting on Monday.
“The latest escalation highlights the need to return to international mechanisms and multilateral diplomacy,” the French diplomat said.
Hezbollah and Israel have continued to exchange fire, with Hezbollah relying primarily on drone attacks to defend against Israel’s intensifying ground invasion to occupy more land in southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah’s backer, Iran, has signalled that any final agreement with Washington to end the US-Iran war must include a lasting ceasefire in Lebanon.
“The ceasefire between Iran and the US is unequivocally a ceasefire on all fronts, including in Lebanon,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Monday. “Its violation on one front is a violation of the ceasefire on all fronts. The US and Israel are responsible for the consequences of any violation.”
Tasnim reported Iran and allied groups have discussed measures to increase pressure on Israel and its allies, including the possible closure of the Strait of Hormuz and activation of other fronts, including the Bab Al Mandeb.
The fighting in Lebanon has been the broadest spillover of the Iran war, displacing more than 1.2 million Lebanese through Israeli strikes and forced displacement warnings since March 2, when Hezbollah resumed firing rockets and drones into Israel to back its ally Iran.
Israeli strikes have so far killed more than 3,370 people, according to the Lebanese government. Israel said 24 of its soldiers and four civilians have been killed over the same period.
