The Israeli army announced this Wednesday the first evacuation order over a Lebanese municipality since June 26, when the United States announced a framework peace agreement between the governments of Lebanon and Israel. The Israeli troops, who also say they have initiated a series of “selective bombings” over the south of the country, claim to be acting in response to “violations” by the Lebanese militia Hezbollah.
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The Israeli escalation, which breaks weeks of relative calm in southern Lebanon, comes amid reports — which Israel has not confirmed — indicating the detonation of an explosive device that would have caused damage among Israeli ranks in Lebanon. The incident would have taken place in Majdal Zoun, a municipality located just six kilometers from the unofficial border with Israel and one of the 67 under occupation.
“Urgent warning to the residents of the village of Mansouri,” warned Ella Waweya, the Israeli army spokesperson in Arabic, addressing the inhabitants of a municipality located five kilometers from Majdal Zoun. “Given Hezbollah’s violation of the ceasefire agreement, the Israeli army is forced to act decisively. The troops do not intend to harm you,” she added, demanding that the population “immediately evacuate their homes” for their safety.
In a parallel statement, the Israeli army assured that it is carrying out “precise bombings” in southern Lebanon in response to “a flagrant violation of the ceasefire” by Hezbollah, the Iranian-allied Shiite party-militia.
The mayor of Mansouri, Haidar Madihli, accused Israel of bombings on four buildings before issuing the evacuation order, and added in statements to the Lebanese media l’Orient Today that the 15 families remaining in the municipality have left, after several had already done so due to the growing hostility in recent days.
Mansouri suffers a particular situation: the Yellow Line with which Israel delimits the occupied zone crosses the municipality, causing the proximity between the returned civilians and the Israeli military presence to provoke tensions.
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Diplomatic efforts
The Lebanese Ministry of Health has recorded more than 8,000 deaths due to Israeli attacks since 2023. At that time, the large Israeli military offensive on Gaza began in response to attacks by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas on Israeli territory. In response to the bombings on the Strip, Hezbollah also attacked Israeli targets.
After open war between the two resumed in March, when Hezbollah launched rockets against Israel this time in defense of Iran, the framework agreement developed by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump and the previous memorandum of understanding between Washington and Tehran, which included Lebanon, had managed to contain the levels of conflict in the area.
More than 800,000 people, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, have returned during this period to their communities, in many cases devastated. However, more than 360,000 remain forcibly displaced, as Israel continues to occupy 620 square kilometers (6% of Lebanon) in the border area with Israel, where it has at all times maintained operations to raze homes, public infrastructure, and forests.
Alongside the tension on the ground, the governments of Israel and Lebanon, which signed the peace framework proposed by Washington in negotiations in which Hezbollah does not participate, have been conducting since Tuesday the seventh round of negotiations to advance the implementation of that plan. The project foresees the designation of “pilot zones,” where the Lebanese army must take control in exchange for a gradual Israeli withdrawal. But both parties reject the order of these commitments, and this makes any violent incident risk causing the entire diplomatic effort to derail.
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