Israel struck a main bridge linking Lebanon’s south to the rest of the country yesterday after ordering its military to destroy all crossings over the Litani River and to step up the demolition of homes near the southern border.
The destruction of bridges and homes marks a significant escalation in Israel’s military campaign in Lebanon, which was pulled into the regional war on March 2 when armed group Hizbollah fired into Israeli territory.
International law generally prohibits militaries from attacking civilian infrastructure, and the United Nations human rights chief has criticised Israel’s actions in Lebanon, particularly its use of widespread evacuation orders that have displaced more than a million people.
Yesterday’s strike damaged a crossing on Lebanon’s coastal highway that runs through farmland and is one of the main routes linking southern and central Lebanon.
An Israeli military spokesperson had announced the army would strike the bridge earlier yesterday.
Lama Al Fares, who lives on farmland adjacent to the crossing, said her family packed what they could into their car when they saw the warning.
They drove north on the highway and waited on a hilltop overlooking it.
“Our house is right next to the bridge. It was destroyed in the last war and we had rebuilt a basic structure to live in – I hope it’s still standing,” she told Reuters.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said the strikes were a ‘prelude to a ground invasion’ and amounted to a ‘policy of collective punishment against civilians’.
He said it would impede the delivery of humanitarian aid and could be part of ‘suspicious schemes’ to pursue an expansion of Israel’s presence in Lebanese territory.
Defence Minister Israel Katz has previously said Lebanon could face ‘damage to infrastructure and loss of territory’ if its government did not disarm Hizbollah.
A second Israeli strike hit the bridge yesterday evening, according to Lebanese state media.
Earlier, an Israeli was killed in his car near the border after what the military described as a ‘launch’ from Lebanese territory.
Ten hours after Israel’s ambulance service reported the man’s death, the military said it was investigating whether he had been killed by Israeli fire.
Two Israeli soldiers have been killed in fighting in Lebanon.
Israel’s strikes on Lebanon have killed more than 1,000 people, including nearly 120 children, 80 women and 40 medical personnel, according to Lebanon’s health ministry.
Katz said the military had been ordered to destroy all bridges over the Litani to prevent Hizbollah and weapons from moving south.
The Israeli military had already destroyed three bridges in southern Lebanon in the last 10 days.
Katz also said the military was ordered to accelerate the demolition of Lebanese homes in ‘frontline villages’ to neutralise threats to Israeli communities.
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