Israeli Forces Cross Litani River Near Nabatieh, Clash With Hezbollah In Deir Siryan

Israeli forces carried out a weeklong “secret” operation in southern Lebanon that allowed them to cross the Litani River and advance toward the Nabatieh district, with heavy clashes reported in Deir Siryan with Hezbollah fighters.

“Yisrael Hayom quoted senior officers in the Israeli army saying that the current situation on the northern front has become far worse than it was on the eve of the war”

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The Israeli army said troops from the Golani Brigade crossed the river, “cleared the Litani area” and established “operational control” there, while Israeli media and the army described the operation as involving heavy fighting and air support.

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In a statement posted on X, Arabic-language military spokesperson Avichay Adraee claimed Israeli soldiers uncovered “headquarters used by Hezbollah members and underground infrastructure containing weapons, arsenals, and launch platforms.”

L'Orient Today reported that Israeli forces also shelled Zawtar Gharbieh and Zawtar Sharqieh throughout last week, and that the two villages face the occupied villages of Deir Siryan and Adsheet al-Qusair in the Marjayoun district on the river’s south bank.

The head of the Zawtar Sharqieh municipality, Mohammad Ismail, told L'Orient Today’s correspondent in the South that, “We do not know whether [Israeli troops] are still in the area or if they have withdrawn,” while he said images published by the Israeli army appeared to have been taken near the “Khallet Raj” area about two kilometers from the village.

Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz escalated threats by announcing the army’s intention to impose control over wide areas in southern Lebanon reaching up to the Litani River, while he said the army would continue operations in Lebanon with full force against Hezbollah.

In a televised statement, Katz said hundreds of thousands of Lebanese displaced from the south would not be able to return before what he described as “security guarantees” for residents of northern Israel, and he said the army destroyed bridges over the Litani River and intends to take control of the remaining bridges.

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Katz also said the so-called buffer zone in southern Lebanon would be modeled on what the occupation did in Rafah and Beit Hanoun in the Gaza Strip, and he stressed that Hezbollah committed a grave mistake by joining Iran in the war.

The UN Human Rights Office said such operations could amount to war crimes, stressing the need to protect civilians and civilian buildings in accordance with international humanitarian law, while Human Rights Watch accused Israel of forced displacement and war crimes in south Lebanon.

Lebanese authorities, as cited in the article, said that since 2 March this year Israel’s attacks on Lebanon left 1,039 dead, 2,876 wounded and more than one million displaced, and the same day Hezbollah attacked a military site in northern Israel in response to the assassination of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and ongoing Israeli assaults despite a ceasefire in place since November 2024.

The bombardment described in the reporting continued across southern Lebanon, with the Israeli air force and army striking towns and neighborhoods including Kafra and Haris in the Bint Jbeil district and conducting a strike on Burj Qalawi alongside artillery fire.

“SOUTH LEBANON INVASION ‘Secret’ operation near Nabatieh: Israeli army crossed the Litani River last week Israeli press reports claim that the Golani brigade brought armored vehicles up to the outskirts of Zawtar Sharqieh”

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The article said three people were killed in the Israeli airstrike on the Sama’iya Mosque in the center of the town, and it described warplanes destroying the al-Husayniyya al-Qadima in the town of al-Duwayr in the Nabatieh district, “completely destroying it.”

It also reported that an Israeli strike on the town of Kfardjal – Nabatieh road resulted in two deaths, and that three civilians from Shouqin and a resident of Mafdon were killed in airstrikes on Shouqin in the Nabatieh district, along with two Syrians.

The Ministry of Health announced that the cumulative death toll of the war since March 2 has risen to 2,659 dead and 8,183 wounded, while the Israeli army issued an evacuation warning to residents of towns and villages including Qaquiya al-Jisr and Deir al-Zahrani.

In the same reporting, Israeli forces carried out an explosive operation in Adaisseh in the Marjayoun district and detonated infrastructure facilities and houses in the towns of Tir Harrafa and Sheihin in the Tyre district, while the air force attacked al-Jamijamah and Ya‘tr and fired on Konin and Bint Jbeil.