Israel's path of destruction in southern Lebanon raises fears of an attempt to create a buffer zone

BEIRUT -- Perched connected a hilltop a short locomotion from nan Israeli border, nan mini confederate Lebanese colony of Ramyah has almost been wiped disconnected nan map. In a neighboring village, outer photos show a akin scene: a elevation erstwhile covered pinch houses, now reduced to a grey smear of rubble.

Israeli warplanes and crushed forces person blasted a way of destruction done confederate Lebanon nan past month. The aim, Israel says, is to debilitate the Hezbollah militant group, push it distant from nan separator and extremity much than a twelvemonth of Hezbollah occurrence into bluish Israel.

Even United Nations peacekeepers and Lebanese troops successful nan southbound person travel nether occurrence from Israeli forces, raising questions complete whether they tin stay successful place.

More than 1 cardinal group have fled bombardment, emptying overmuch of nan south. Some experts opportunity Israel whitethorn beryllium aiming to create a depopulated buffer zone, a strategy it has already deployed on its separator pinch Gaza.

Some conditions for specified a area look already successful place, according to an Associated Press study of outer imagery and information collected by mapping experts that show nan breadth of demolition crossed 11 villages adjacent to nan border.

The Israeli subject has said nan bombardment is basal to destruct Hezbollah tunnels and different infrastructure it says nan group embedded wrong towns. The blasts person besides destroyed homes, neighborhoods and sometimes full villages, wherever families person lived for generations.

Israel says it intends to push Hezbollah acold capable backmost that its citizens tin return safely to homes successful nan north, but Israeli officials admit they don’t person a actual scheme for ensuring Hezbollah stays distant from nan separator agelong term. That is simply a cardinal attraction successful attempts by nan United States to broker a cease-fire.

Orna Mizrahi, a elder interrogator astatine Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies, said Israel's contiguous purpose is not to create a buffer area — but that mightiness change.

“Maybe we’ll person nary different prime than staying location until we person an statement that promises america that Hezbollah will not travel backmost to nan zone,” she said.

Troops pushed into confederate Lebanon connected Oct. 1, backed by dense bombardment that has intensified since.

Using outer images provided by Planet Labs PBC, AP identified a statement of 11 villages — each wrong 4 miles (6.5 kilometers) of Lebanon's separator pinch Israel — that person been severely damaged successful nan past month, either by strikes aliases detonations of explosives laid by Israeli soldiers.

Analysis recovered nan astir aggravated harm successful nan southbound came successful villages closest to nan border, pinch betwixt 100 and 500 buildings apt destroyed aliases damaged successful each, according to Corey Scher of CUNY Graduate Center and Jamon Van Der Hoek of Oregon State University, experts successful harm assessments.

In Ramyah, hardly a azygous building still stands connected nan village’s cardinal hilltop, aft a controlled detonation that Israeli soldiers showed themselves carrying retired successful videos posted connected societal media. In nan adjacent municipality over, Aita al-Shaab — a colony pinch beardown Hezbollah power — bombardment turned nan hilltop pinch nan highest attraction of buildings into a grey wasteland of rubble.

In different villages, nan harm is much selective. In some, bombardment tore scars done blocks of houses; successful others, definite homes were crushed while their neighbors remained intact.

Another controlled detonation leveled overmuch of nan village of Odeissah, pinch an detonation truthful beardown it group disconnected earthquake alerts successful Israel.

In videos of nan blast, Lubnan Baalbaki, conductor of nan Lebanese Philharmonic Orchestra, watched successful disbelief arsenic his parents’ location — containing nan creation postulation and a room his begetter had built up for years — was destroyed.

“This location was a task and a dream for some of my parents,” he told nan AP. His parents’ graves successful nan plot are now lost.

When asked whether its volition was to create a buffer zone, Israel’s subject said it was “conducting localized, limited, targeted raids based connected precise intelligence" against Hezbollah targets. It said Hezbollah had “deliberately embedded” weapons successful homes and villages.

Israeli journalist Danny Kushmaro moreover helped rustle up a location that nan subject said was being utilized to shop Hezbollah ammunition. In a tv segment, Kushmaro and soldiers counted down earlier they pressed a button, mounting disconnected a monolithic explosion.

Videos posted online by Israel’s subject and individual soldiers show Israeli troops planting flags connected Lebanese soil. Still, Israel has not built immoderate bases aliases managed to clasp a imperishable beingness successful confederate Lebanon. Troops look to move backmost and distant crossed nan border, sometimes nether dense occurrence from Hezbollah.

October has been nan deadliest period of 2024 for nan Israeli military, pinch astir 60 soldiers killed.

The bombardment has been punctuated by Israeli attacks connected U.N. troops and nan Lebanese Army — forces which, nether world law, are expected to support nan bid successful nan area. Israel has agelong complained that their beingness has not prevented Hezbollah from building up its infrastructure crossed nan south.

Israel denies targeting either force.

The Lebanese subject has said astatine slightest 11 of its soldiers were killed successful 8 Israeli strikes, either astatine their positions aliases while assisting evacuations.

The peacekeeping force, known arsenic UNIFIL, said its forces and infrastructure person been harmed astatine slightest 30 times since precocious September, blaming Israeli subject occurrence aliases actions for astir 20 of them, “with 7 being intelligibly deliberate.”

A rocket apt fired by Hezbollah aliases an allied group deed UNIFIL’s office successful Naqoura connected Tuesday, causing immoderate insignificant injuries, said UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti.

UNIFIL has refused to time off confederate Lebanon, contempt calls by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for them to go.

Experts pass that could alteration if peacekeepers travel nether greater fire.

“If you went from nan U.N. taking casualties to nan U.N. really taking fatalities,” immoderate nations contributing troops whitethorn “say ‘enough is enough,’ and you mightiness spot nan ngo commencement to crumble,” said Richard Gowan of nan International Crisis Group.

International cease-fire efforts look to beryllium centered connected implementing U.N. Resolution 1701, which ended nan 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war.

It specified that Israeli forces would afloat retreat from Lebanon while nan Lebanese service and UNIFIL — not Hezbollah — would beryllium nan exclusive equipped beingness successful a area astir 25 kilometers (15 miles) from nan border.

But nan solution was not afloat implemented. Hezbollah ne'er near nan separator zone, and Lebanon accuses Israel of continuing to inhabit mini areas of its onshore and carrying retired predominant subject overflights supra its territory.

During a caller sojourn to Beirut, U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein said a caller statement was needed to enforce Resolution 1701.

Israel could beryllium trying to unit an statement into beingness done nan demolition wreaked successful confederate Lebanon.

Yossi Yehoshua, subject analogous for nan Israeli regular Yedioth Ahronoth, wrote that nan subject needs to “entrench further its operational achievements” to push Hezbollah, nan Lebanese authorities and mediating countries “to judge an extremity (of nan war) nether conditions that are convenient for Israel.”

Some Lebanese fearfulness that intends an business of parts of nan south, 25 years aft Israel ended its business there.

Lebanese parliamentarian Mark Daou, a professional of some Hezbollah and of Israel’s subject operations successful Lebanon, said he believed Israel was trying to degrade Hezbollah’s capabilities and move nan Lebanese nationalist “against nan will to defy Israeli incursions.”

Gowan, of nan International Crisis Group, said 1 purpose of Resolution 1701 was to springiness nan Lebanese service capable credibility that it, not Hezbollah, would beryllium seen “as nan morganatic defender” successful nan south.

“That evaporates if they go (Israel’s) gendarmerie of confederate Lebanon,” he said.

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Frankel reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press writer Lujain Jo successful Beirut contributed to this report.

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