TEHRAN — Israeli forces escalated their campaign of artillery shelling, airstrikes, and controlled demolitions across southern Lebanon over the weekend, turning border villages into uninhabitable wreckage while Washington provides political cover for the ongoing aggression.

Explosives in schools and destruction of border villages

According to local media outlets, the latest wave of destruction hit hardest in the Marjayoun and Tyre districts. In Houla, Israeli soldiers rigged a private school building with heavy explosives before blowing it up and setting fire to nearby homes.

Similar demolitions shook Al-Mansouri, where massive detonations sent clouds of white smoke rising above residential neighborhoods, rattling windows as far away as Tyre. The town’s public school had already been mostly destroyed during earlier raids.

Lebanese news outlets also reported relentless artillery bombardment across Wadi Al-Hujeir, Nabatieh Al-Fawqa, Kfarromman, and Baraachit. Israeli warplanes launched strikes on Kfar Tebnit, Bani Hayyan, and the outskirts of Mayfadoun and Zawtar al-Sharqiyah, while low-flying fighter jets buzzed towns across the south.

According to local reports, Israeli troops currently occupy more than 60 southern communities, carrying out systematic demolitions to ensure civilian populations cannot return.

The American shield and occupation costs

This campaign continues despite the “Framework Agreement” signed in Washington on June 26. Advertised by American officials as a step toward Israeli withdrawal and Lebanese army deployment, the deal has produced no pullback.

Instead, Tel Aviv has used the agreement to entrench its presence while demanding unilateral Lebanese concessions.

The ongoing occupation poses severe daily hazards for local populations trying to check their land. On September 30, a Lebanese army serviceman was severely injured alongside three civilians near Nabatieh al-Fawqa when a leftover explosive charge detonated during a property inspection escort.

Israeli forces are not operating without cost. An Israeli military spokesperson confirmed Sunday that an officer was moderately injured and a soldier seriously hurt in an operational explosion in southern Lebanon on Friday.

Meanwhile, figures cited from Israel’s war ministry show that 1,318 Israeli military and security personnel have died across all battlefronts since October 2023.