Israel Razes Naqoura, Forces Ali to Flee Again in March

In Naqoura, in southern Lebanon, Ali said the Israeli military had recently withdrawn from the town as part of a ceasefire agreement but left behind detonated homes, a graffiti-laden school, and power lines pulled out of the ground.

“Beirut, Lebanon – In February 2025, Ali stood outside his house in Naqoura, in southern Lebanon, and pointed at the crack in the foundation and fruit trees pulled up by the Israeli military”

Al Jazeera

Ali, who said he would fix what was damaged, later described how Israel has completely razed the area of Naqoura and forced him to flee when Israelis invaded again in March, trading his garden and family home by the sea for a room on a rooftop in the heart of Beirut.

Al Jazeera

Sipping coffee, Ali said, “We had 20 good years,” roughly referring to the period between the end of the 2000 Israeli occupation and the start of hostilities on October 8, 2023.

Basma Alloush of the International Rescue Committee told Al Jazeera that when “a village is flattened, and even the landmarks around it are gone, people lose more than their homes,” describing the psychological distress that follows.

Al Jazeera reported that Israel intensified its war on Lebanon on March 2 for a second time in less than two years, and since then has killed 4,257 people in Lebanon and wounded more than 12,000 more.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met Tuesday with Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon and told them they would continue their occupation as long as Hezbollah poses a threat, in what Democracy Now! described as his first visit to Lebanon since Israel invaded its northern neighbor on March 2.

Democracy Now! said Israeli attacks on Lebanon since then have killed over 4,000 people and have continued despite the U.S. ceasefire with Iran, which requires Israel to stop bombing Lebanon and withdraw its forces.

Al-Manar TV Lebanon

In a separate account, the BBC reported that the Iranian army’s Khatam al-Anbiya Headquarters threatened to respond, saying, “If the Zionist regime's army, the child-killer, does not put an end to its evil in southern Lebanon, it should expect a harsh response.”

The BBC also said drone attacks by Israel targeted three vehicles in southern Lebanon on Tuesday, killing four people and wounding others, and that Israeli forces on Wednesday carried out air raids on multiple areas in southern Lebanon despite the announced Tehran–Washington agreement to end the war in the Middle East.

The BBC reported that the pace of attacks by the Israeli army “intensified” after midday Tuesday, following a day of relative calm after the announcement of a US–Iran cease-fire agreement.

In southern Lebanon, L'Orient Today reported that Israel continued its attacks and demolishes buildings in the Bint Jbeil district, after a night in which Israeli soldiers carried out multiple demolition operations and set fire to buildings in several villages.

“The Israeli enemy continued its vandal attacks and violations in the various towns and villages of South Lebanon”

Al-Manar TV Lebanon

L'Orient Today said that on X, the Israeli army stated it had killed a Hezbollah member after “identifying him as he exited an access shaft to an underground tunnel network on the ridge of Ali Taher,” in the security zone where Israeli soldiers operate.

The same report said the Lebanese Ministry of Health reported that Israeli attacks have killed at least 4,298 people since March 2, and that Hezbollah is expected to hold funerals for several of its fighters, with ten to be buried in their village of Touline, Marjayoun, and another in Ainata, Sour.

In parallel, Al Jazeera reported that Israel currently occupies approximately 6 percent of Lebanese territory and that a recent agreement signed between Tel Aviv and Beirut seems to indicate Israeli troops will not be abandoning their positions anytime soon.

Al Jazeera also said a UNDP assessment found that 11,095 buildings were completely destroyed after the 2026 offensive, and that satellite analysis by Le Monde found that since March 2026, 45 percent of urban areas in southern Lebanon have been damaged or destroyed.