From the dawn hours until the early hours of the morning, southern Lebanon witnessed a widespread Israeli escalation, distributed between air strikes, artillery shelling, bombings, and ground movements, while Israeli warplanes recorded air sorties over the western and central sectors and along the southern coastal line.
In details, Israeli warplanes launched a raid on the town of Qantara, and 3 raids on Doha Kafr Rumman, in addition to a raid targeting the Ali Al-Taher area.
The Ali Al-Taher area was subjected to artillery shelling with phosphorus shells that continued for more than two hours, simultaneously with artillery shelling that targeted Al-Qusayr, Wadi Al-Hujair, and Al-Jabal Al-Rafi’a.
Israeli helicopters also carried out sweeping operations that continued until 5 a.m., targeting the areas of Ali Al-Taher and Al-Dabsha, while artillery shelling targeted the Jubb Suwayd area in the outskirts of the town of Al-Mansouri.
In Kfar Shuba, two Merkava tanks and an Israeli military bulldozer penetrated the vicinity of the town from the direction of the Al-Shumays area, while an artillery shell targeted the Matlin tower northeast of Kfar Shuba, followed by heavy sweeping with machine guns towards the town.
An Israeli bombing was also recorded in the town of Majdal Zoun, while Al-Mansouri and Majdal Zoun witnessed massive bombings, in conjunction with Israeli air sorties over the western and central sectors.
Along the southern coast, Israeli warplanes flew at medium altitude, while air sorties continued over large areas of the south.
In another development, an Israeli aircraft dropped a sound bomb over the town of Kafra in the Bint Jbeil District.
This escalation comes after a bloody day in southern Lebanon on August 15, when Israeli raids resulted in the death of at least 11 people, including children, in the heaviest toll since the last truce came into effect in June. Israel said that its strikes were in response to an attack it attributed to Hezbollah, which resulted in the injury of 3 Israeli soldiers, while the escalation raised fears of the confrontation expanding again.
The Ali Al-Taher area stands out as one of the most sensitive points in the field scene during the final stage, given its strategic location overlooking a large area of the Nabatieh region and its surrounding sectors. Over the past weeks, its surroundings have witnessed repeated military operations and strikes with escalating tension on the southern front.
The expansion of the scope of operations comes at a time when the security arrangements in the south are still the subject of political and diplomatic efforts, amid attempts to establish a ceasefire and complete the understandings related to the Israeli withdrawal and the deployment of the Lebanese army, while the accelerating field escalation raises the level of fears about the south entering into a more extensive round.
