Satellite footage shows the village of Mays el Jabal in southern Lebanon rocked by a series of powerful explosions unleashed by Israeli forces on November 4. Dense clouds of smoke billow skyward, swallowing the village whole and leaving nothing but destruction in their wake.
The devastation has played out repeatedly in villages across southern Lebanon since Israel launched its invasion over a month ago, aiming to push Hezbollah militants back from the border.
From Mhaibeb, Marwahin, and Odaisseh to Kafr Kila, Houla, and Aitaroun – villages where families have lived for generations – everything has been reduced to rubble in seconds.
Israel has completely destroyed at least 29 villages along the border, according to Mohamad Shameddine, the research director at Information International.
Lebanon’s National Human Rights Commission has declared that the Israeli army’s ongoing campaign of destruction constitutes a war crime.
Israel claims its mission is to dismantle Hezbollah’s extensive network of tunnels in the border region. However, some experts suggest Israel might also be aiming to create a depopulated buffer zone, a strategy it has already implemented along its border with Gaza.
For those forced to flee, the strikes have destroyed far more than strategic targets. They have erased entire lifetimes of memories.
Widespread Destructions
As of October 26, nearly a quarter of all buildings in 25 Lebanese municipalities near the Israeli border have been damaged or destroyed, according to satellite data analysis by The Washington Post.
But on November 5, the Lebanese National News Agency (NNA) stated that over 40,000 housing units have been completely destroyed by Israel across Lebanon.
In the border areas alone, at least 5,868 buildings have been affected, with nearly half of the structures in the two hardest-hit regions, Ayta al-Shab and Kfar Kila, suffering damage. The footage shows that Israel has damaged or destroyed at least nine religious sites, reported by The Washington Post.
According to Lebanon’s National Human Rights Commission, Israel’s military has employed “air strikes, bulldozers, and controlled explosions” to demolish entire neighborhoods, including homes, schools, mosques, churches, shrines, and archaeological sites.
Most of this destruction – almost 80 percent – has occurred since October 2, the day after Israel launched its ground invasion.
The Lebanese government reports that at least 1.2 million people have been displaced, most since Israel intensified its airstrikes last month.
According to the U.N.’s human rights division, one-quarter of Lebanese territory is now under Israeli displacement orders.
Israel claims border actions are “precise and limited”
The pace of Israel’s destruction in southern Lebanese villages has accelerated, roughly doubling every two weeks, even as Israeli officials express a willingness to negotiate an end to the war.
The Israeli army claimed in a statement to The Washington Post that its operations consist of “localized, limited, targeted raids based on precise intelligence,” designed to allow approximately 60,000 displaced Israelis to return to their homes in the north while neutralizing the threat from Hezbollah.
“The IDF continues to operate in strict accordance with international law and under the directive of the political echelon,” the Israeli military asserted in its statement.
In an address to the Lebanese people last month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated, “Israel’s war is not with you. It’s with Hezbollah.”
However, Israeli officials admit they lack a concrete plan for keeping Hezbollah away from the border in the long term – a key focus of the United States’ efforts to broker a cease-fire.
Analysts warn of systematic efforts to clear areas similar to Gaza
Orna Mizrahi, a senior researcher at Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies, told the Associated Press that Israel’s immediate goal is not to establish a buffer zone, though that could change.
“Maybe we’ll have no other choice than staying there until we have an arrangement that promises us that Hezbollah will not come back to the zone,” she said.
However, analysts suggest that the widespread destruction across the border region points to a systematic campaign to clear the area, similar to Israel’s operations in parts of Gaza, often conducted by the same units, reported by The Washington Post.
Hisham Younes, director of Green Southerners, an environmental group focused on southern Lebanon, spoke to The Washington Post in an interview:
“This systematic destruction threatens not only the livelihoods of the local population but also the region’s cultural identity. They [Israel] are attempting to sever the connection between the people and their land.”
Most of Mhaibib’s historic village obliterated
Mhaibib, a hilltop village near the Israeli border, was devastated by explosions on October 16, with video released by the Israeli army showing blasts reducing dozens of homes to rubble, according to the Associated Press.
Mhaibib is renowned for its 70 historic stone houses and an ancient shrine dedicated to Benjamin, the son of Jacob.
The rights group Legal Agenda reported that the blasts “destroyed the majority” of the village, including at least 92 buildings of civilian homes and facilities.
“You can’t destroy an entire village for a military target,” said Hussein Chaabane, an investigative journalist with Legal Agenda, in an interview with Al Monitor.
Chaabane emphasized that international law prohibits attacks on civilian objects and that the principle of proportionality is being violated in this case.
Odaisseh explosion triggered earthquake alert
Similarly, on October 26, massive explosions in and around the village of Odaisseh triggered an earthquake alert in northern Israel, reported by L’Orient Today.
That day, Israel’s military announced that 400 tons of explosives had detonated in a Hezbollah tunnel, which it claimed was over 1.5 kilometers long.
After the attacks, the Israeli Geological Institute issued an earthquake alert for 284 localities across Israel, reaching as far as the occupied West Bank, over 100 kilometers from the Lebanese border, as reported by the Jerusalem Post.
Residents near Odaisseh also felt the tremors, according to L’Orient’s correspondent in southern Lebanon.
Lebanese seismologist and professor Tony Nemr posted on the social media platform X following Israel’s attacks on Odaisseh:
“If it has been decided within this war to ignore all safeguards in military operations, the Israeli war machine should realize that recklessly tampering with natural laws in the wrong place can trigger earthquakes with impacts that won’t stop at national borders.”
Israel’s strategy of detonating entire villages in southern Lebanon may render it nearly impossible for many residents to return once the fighting subsides. Despite having sacrificed their homes and lives, these villagers followed evacuation orders in hopes of coming back, yet some may never see their communities again.