Lebanon16 September, 20262 min read
Israeli Forces Incursion Into Halta In Hasbaya District Arrests Residents, Demolishes Homes
This article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.
Israeli forces entered Halta, conducted home searches, field interrogations, and arson attacks. Three residents abducted: Qasim Abdul-Aal, Hatim Abdul-Aal, and Za’al Gassan Abdul-Aal.
Halta raid and arrests
Israeli occupation forces carried out an incursion into southern Lebanon on Wednesday, entering the town of Halta in the Hasbaya district and conducting searches of several homes while carrying out field interrogations of residents. Al-Manar reported that the “enemy force conducted a sweep using machine guns and carried out bulldozing and destruction of agricultural lands,” and said Israeli forces also shelled the vicinity of residential buildings with artillery and demolished two homes on the outskirts of the village.
In Halta, Al-AKhbar said an Israeli force entered the town’s eastern neighborhood, encircled parts of the area, raided and searched several homes, and soldiers assaulted residents and arrested several young men whose whereabouts and detention status remain unclear. The incursion was accompanied by damage to local infrastructure, with Israeli bulldozers leveling land and uprooting olive trees, and sources inside Halta also reported that soldiers dismantled parts of the village’s internet network.
Abductions, explosions, and curfew
Al-Nahar said that in the hours after Thursday afternoon, residents of Halta town in the Hasbaya District faced panic as an Israeli military force entered at dawn and abducted three residents after surrounding several homes and preventing residents from leaving. Al-Nahar named the abducted residents as Qasim Abdul-Aal, Hatim Abdul-Aal, and Za’al Gassan Abdul-Aal, and said the force then retreated back toward Israeli territory, according to the National News Agency.
In a separate account, Naharnet said an Israeli force on Wednesday blew up the house of the resident Abdallah Hatem Abdel-Al and kidnapped a resident after the area had earlier been targeted by three Israeli artillery shells. Today (L'Orient Today) reported that Israeli forces infiltrated the border village of Halta (Hasbaya) at dawn on Wednesday, abducted two residents for questioning, detained one of them, and imposed a curfew with residents forbidden to leave their homes.
Demolitions and what’s at risk
Today (L'Orient Today) said Israeli forces continued overnight artillery fire and demolition operations across southern Lebanon, including demolitions between Braasheet and Beit Yahoun (Bint Jbeil) at dawn on Wednesday and repeated targeting of Mansouri (Sour) by major overnight explosions. The same report said Israel dismantled internet equipment and solar panels installed on rooftops in Halta, then conducted bulldozing earthworks and uprooted olive trees in the same area, while also carrying out demolitions to destroy two houses on the outskirts of the village.
Today (L'Orient Today) added that residents issued a call for help asking the Lebanese authorities, the Lebanese Army, UNIFIL peacekeepers, and the Lebanese Red Cross to intervene as Israeli troops were still present in the predominantly Sunni locality. It also stated that despite the “cease-fire” announced on June 29 in Lebanon, Israel continues to bomb, destroy homes and infrastructure, uproot olive trees, and set lands on fire across the South on a daily basis, and said it currently occupies more than 600 km² of Lebanese territory along the southern border.