Hezbollah Asks Border Villages’ Residents to Leave as Israeli Bombing Intensifies

Metula Israeli settlement as seen from the Lebanese town of Kafr Kila (EPA)
Metula Israeli settlement as seen from the Lebanese town of Kafr Kila (EPA)
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Hezbollah Asks Border Villages’ Residents to Leave as Israeli Bombing Intensifies

Metula Israeli settlement as seen from the Lebanese town of Kafr Kila (EPA)
Metula Israeli settlement as seen from the Lebanese town of Kafr Kila (EPA)

Hezbollah and the Israeli forces proceeded with an additional escalation in the border area, the majority of whose population was displaced on both sides of the border.

Hezbollah hit an Israeli military target with a drone about 12 kilometers from the nearest border point with Lebanon, while the Israeli forces relied on significant firepower resulting from air strikes.

Israel evacuated a large number of settlements and towns in Upper Galilee and Western Galilee to a depth of 7 km; Hezbollah asked the remaining residents of some villages located directly on the border in the region to leave.

Sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that ten days ago, Hezbollah wished the remaining residents would leave the area following the significant Israeli military escalation and the targeting of civilian homes.

The sources explained that “some residents evacuated their homes, while others refused to leave.”

They noted that those who refuse to leave their homes either have no choice due to particular circumstances or are determined to stay and will not leave their homes.

A resident of Marjaayoun district “refused to move because of the difficulty of providing care for his sick mother outside the home, who suffers from health problems that have left her paralyzed,” said the sources. Therefore, he refuses to leave despite the danger threatening the residents.

- Air strikes

Israeli forces have intensified the frequency of air strikes in the last two weeks, targeting residential sites and populated neighborhoods.

In Kafr Kila, Israeli aircraft carried out intensive raids that created a belt of fire around the border town, the first of its kind since the outbreak of confrontations, killing three people, including two paramedics of Hezbollah’s al-Hayʾa al-Sahhiyya al-Islamiyya (the Islamic Health Committee).

Several homes were destroyed, and others were partially damaged, resulting from nearby bombings or raids, according to the sources.

On the other side of the border, Israeli authorities evacuated the settlements.

The Times of Israel newspaper quoted Tuesday the head of the northern Upper Galilee Reginal Council, Giora Zaltz, as warning that if Israel “doesn’t significantly harm Hezbollah’s ability to act,” the war will have been lost.

“On a national level, the north and the south will be taken 30 years backward,” he said.

He noted that after almost three months of war, there is still no government body dedicated to overseeing civilians from northern Israel, thousands of whom have been displaced.

“We want to come back to our industry, to farming, to high-tech, and education,” Zaltz says. “We will come back but don’t deserve to continue living in this enormous fear.”

Zaltz cautioned that they would be in a terrible place if the government didn’t start to assume responsibility for the North and the South.



US Revokes Foreign Terrorist Designation for Syria's HTS

Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa speaks during a Ministerial formation of the government of the Syrian Arab Republic, in Damascus, Syria March 29, 2025. (Reuters)
Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa speaks during a Ministerial formation of the government of the Syrian Arab Republic, in Damascus, Syria March 29, 2025. (Reuters)
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US Revokes Foreign Terrorist Designation for Syria's HTS

Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa speaks during a Ministerial formation of the government of the Syrian Arab Republic, in Damascus, Syria March 29, 2025. (Reuters)
Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa speaks during a Ministerial formation of the government of the Syrian Arab Republic, in Damascus, Syria March 29, 2025. (Reuters)

President Donald Trump's administration on Monday revoked the foreign terrorist organization designation for Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, as Washington moves to remove US sanctions on Syria to help the country rebuild following years of a civil war.

In December, opposition factions led by HTS ousted Syria's former president Bashar al-Assad in a lightning offensive. Then-HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa became Syria's president and said he wanted to build an inclusive and democratic Syria.

HTS was previously known as al-Nusra Front when it was al-Qaeda's Syria branch. It broke off ties with al-Qaeda in 2016.

In May, Sharaa met with Trump in Riyadh where, in a major policy shift, the Republican president unexpectedly announced he would lift US sanctions on Syria, prompting Washington to significantly ease its measures.

"This FTO revocation is an important step in fulfilling President Trump’s vision of a stable, unified, and peaceful Syria," Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement, adding that the revocation will come into effect on Tuesday.

Last week, Trump signed an executive order terminating US sanctions program on Syria, a move that aims to end the country's isolation from the international financial system.

Syria's foreign ministry told Reuters that the lifting of sanctions on HTS was a "positive step toward correcting a course that previously hindered constructive engagement."

The written statement said Syria hoped the move would "contribute to the removal of remaining restrictions that continue to impact Syrian institutions and officials, and open the door to a rational, sovereign-based approach to international cooperation."

The ministry also said that Sharaa was planning to attend the upcoming United Nations General Assembly in September. The UN Security Council still has sanctions on both HTS and Sharaa himself, which require a Council decision to remove.