This Lebanese village resisted two Israeli commando drops last week. Here’s why Israel is targeting it.

As the residents of Nabi Chit settled in to sleep on the night of March 6-7, 2026, Hajjeh Hamda al-Halbawi heard strange digging noises in the Shukr family cemetery right outside her home, an unusual disturbance at such a late hour.

“As the residents of Nabi Chit settled in to sleep on the night of March 6-7, 2026, Hajjeh Hamda al-Halbawi heard strange digging noises in the Shukr family cemetery right outside her home, an unusual disturbance at such a late hour”

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When she stepped out of her home to investigate, a drone immediately opened fire at her.

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Witnesses tell Mondoweiss that the moment her son and daughter rushed over to take her to the hospital, the drone targeted them as well.

All three were killed.

The strikes soon became a massacre, as another neighbor emerged from a nearby house and was struck by a drone on his balcony.

The town’s WhatsApp groups were blasting with news about a possible Israeli incursion as residents began to prepare for what promised to be a long night.

Nabi Chit and several other towns in eastern Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley had been issued a blanket evacuation order by the Israeli army earlier in the day on March 6.

Almost 20 minutes after the warning, Nabi Chit was subjected to several Israeli airstrikes, killing 41 villagers and injuring 40 others throughout the day, according to the Ministry of Public Health.

Despite the bombardment and the evacuation order, many residents had elected to remain in the town.

According to Hadi Shukr, a local journalist from the village who witnessed the events and later reported on them, many residents didn’t have anywhere to go and had decided to stay put.

Shukr says that movement had been reported near the Beqaa’s eastern borders with Syria after a long day of airstrikes.

“But we knew something was off when we noticed the noises coming from the cemetery in the center of town,” he told Mondoweiss, noting that the airstrikes earlier in the day were meant to instill fear in village residents and precipitate their flight.

Those who remained offered resistance.

Later reports confirmed that Israeli special forces had infiltrated the town in an attempt to recover the body of captured Israeli pilot, Ron Arad, who had disappeared in Lebanon in 1986.

During the raid, armed residents joined Hezbollah fighters in exchanging fire with the Israeli force.

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The following day, Israel announced that the mission had failed, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stating that the operation “did not yield the findings we were looking for.”

Two days later, on the evening of March 9, Israel attempted another drop in the Syrian border town of Serghaya.

“As the residents of Nabi Chit settled in to sleep on the night of March 6-7, 2026, Hajjeh Hamda al-Halbawi heard strange digging noises in the Shukr family cemetery right outside her home, an unusual disturbance at such a late hour”

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This time, the Israeli force encountered more organized resistance.

Hezbollah and local witnesses described a large helicopter sweep and an aborted landing near the Syrian town.

According to Hezbollah, a helicopter was struck in the process, but it was able to leave.

This is why analysts describe the ongoing Israeli war as an attempt to drive a wedge between Hezbollah and its popular base of supporters by meting out wholesale destruction among the civilian population.

The well-worn strategy of collective punishment, known as the “Dahiya doctrine,” was employed by Israel during the 2006 war with Hezbollah when it leveled Beirut’s southern Dahiya suburb, another base of popular support for Hezbollah.

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