BBCIsraeli army vehicles turned the dirt road where we crossed into Lebanon, punching a hole in the fence marking the ceasefire line drawn between the two countries a generation ago.
The ceasefire itself has been broken.
Israel’s ground invasion along the border last week aimed to destroy Hezbollah’s weapons and infrastructure in “targeted, localized and limited attacks,” Israel said.
Ten days later, the army took us to a village a few miles from Lebanese territory, where the army had just established “some degree of control.”
We were asked not to reveal where it was for military reasons and our movements were restricted.
Israeli artillery was exploding in the air when we arrived. The brigade commander, Colonel Yaniv Malka, told us that the area is not yet clear of Hezbollah fighters.
The minor shootings were due to fighting taking place 500 meters away, he said, describing “frontal fighting” with Hezbollah fighters in the village just days before – meaning, he said, “the mine see before their eyes and fight them in the streets.”
Along the central road through the village, houses were demolished; The rubble leaks glimpses of family life. Buildings still standing had been penetrated by artillery, missing corners or walls and littered with bullet holes and shrapnel.
Two tanks lie on reclaimed ground near what used to be the village square. The level of destruction surrounding them is reminiscent of Gaza.
Our movements on the ground were restricted by the military to a limited area of the village, but from a distance, the buildings and neighboring communities appeared to be intact.
So far, these incursions appear to be more “limited and targeted” geographically than militarily.
Graffiti on a building commanded by the military reads: “We want peace, you want war.”
“Most of the terrorists ran away,” Colonel Malka told me. “[But] Dozens of houses were trapped. As we went door to door, we discovered traps and weapons. We have no choice but to destroy them.”
We only have the military’s report on what happened here.
We were also shown three caches of weapons allegedly found in civilian homes here, including brand new mortar boxes, anti-tank missiles and new mines, as well as shoulder-fired rockets and sophisticated night vision scopes.
An anti-tank missile we saw was partially assembled.
EPA91st Division Chief of Staff Roy Russo also showed us a garage that he said had been used as equipment storage, with sleeping bags, body armor, rifles and ammunition hidden in a large crate.
“This is what we call the exchange zone,” he said. “They are transforming from civilians to warriors. All of these devices are designed to be moved in [Israel] and conduct operations toward Israel. This is not defensive equipment.”
Israel says this is why it launched the invasion of southern Lebanon; that Hezbollah’s weapons and equipment depot along this border is planning a cross-border attack similar to last year’s October 7 attack by Hamas in southern Israel.
At the beginning of this invasion, the army revealed that Israeli special forces had been operating along the Lebanese border with small tactical units for nearly a year, conducting more than 70 search and destroy raids. Hezbollah’s infrastructure, including underground tunnels – one of which, it said, stopped 30 m (100 ft) before the ceasefire line with Israel and was unfinished.
Colonel Malka showed me some weapons that he said the army had found on the day we arrived. They include a large IED, an anti-personnel mine and high-tech night vision goggles.
He said the army found “two to three times as many weapons” as they found in Gaza, with “thousands” of weapons and thousands of rounds of ammunition found in this village alone.
“We don’t want to keep these places,” he told me. “We want to bring out all the ammunition and combat equipment. Then we hope the people will come back and understand that peace is better for them and that controlling terror for them is bad.”
“But I’ll leave that to the diplomats,” he smiled.
After the last land war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006, the United Nations ruled that Hezbollah must retreat north of the Litani River. An earlier resolution also ordered the disarmament. Both decisions were not implemented.
ReutersThe 2006 ground war was a wake-up call for Israel. Iran-backed militias have fought to hold off its army. For nearly 20 years, both sides avoided and prepared for the next time.
Col Malka fought in Lebanon during that war. “This is different,” he said.
When I asked why, he replied: “Because October 7.”
As we were talking, the sound of small gunshots became louder and louder. He pointed towards it. “Those are my people fighting in the casbah,” he said.
I asked a military spokesman if any women or children were present when the operation here began. He replied that all civilians had been warned to leave.
Human rights group Amnesty International this week described Israel’s evacuation warnings in southern Lebanon as inadequate and too general, and said they did not exempt the country from its obligations under international law.
Israel’s ground invasion is part of a dramatic escalation against Hezbollah over the past three weeks that has also seen it step up airstrikes on southern Lebanon and parts of Beirut.
Lebanon says more than 2,000 people have died, mainly due to recent escalations in tensions, and hundreds of thousands have been displaced.
Hezbollah began firing rockets into northern Israel on October 8 last year, a day after a deadly attack by Hamas on southern Israel. The Iran-backed group said it was acting in solidarity with the Palestinians and said it would cease fire if there was a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
Israel accused Hezbollah of using civilians as human shields. One commander described the ground war as an offensive operation aimed at protecting Israeli citizens – in other words, an invasion aimed at stopping an invasion.
But the speed with which Israeli forces move through these villages along the border may be just the first chapter in this story.
Hezbollah’s tactics have changed since the ground invasion began, with Israeli towns such as Metula – surrounded on three sides by Lebanon – reporting a decrease in direct fire from anti-aircraft missiles. increase and an increase in missiles fired out of sight from further away.
Many people’s assessment is that Hezbollah fighters did not flee but simply retreated further into Lebanon.
Israel already has four divisions lined up on this border – and there are growing voices at home saying that now is the time, not just to push back Hezbollah but to rebuild the Middle East.
As the fighting near the village increased, we were asked to leave immediately, rushing to the waiting convoy.
In the shadow of the growing conflict with Iran, Israel’s small successes along this border do not change an important reality: this is not really a border war, but a Regional wars take place along the border.
