Israel Shifts Ground Offensive in Southern Lebanon to Khiam


A snapshot shows the destruction in Khiam neighborhoods due to Israeli airstrikes (AFP)
A snapshot shows the destruction in Khiam neighborhoods due to Israeli airstrikes (AFP)
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Israel Shifts Ground Offensive in Southern Lebanon to Khiam


A snapshot shows the destruction in Khiam neighborhoods due to Israeli airstrikes (AFP)
A snapshot shows the destruction in Khiam neighborhoods due to Israeli airstrikes (AFP)

Israeli ground forces have shifted focus in southern Lebanon, advancing toward the strategic town of Khiam in a bid to reach the area near the Metula settlement, which overlooks large stretches of Israeli territory.

The Israeli military began a “testing” operation, deploying vehicles on two fronts: one near Metula and another through the Wazzani Plains, including Ghajar and Serdeh Hill. These open areas, with limited Hezbollah presence, allow for quick armored advances, military experts said.

The battle for Khiam is set to be a key focus for Israeli forces in southern Lebanon. It’s the first town they plan to enter after a year of air and artillery strikes, and it carries symbolic weight as home to Khiam Prison, a site run by Israel’s allied South Lebanon Army during its occupation. Rights groups have long condemned reports of abuse there.

Strategically, Khiam’s elevated position overlooks the Galilee and spans toward Ghajar and Wazzani, making it accessible from the east, west, and south.

Experts say Israeli forces are likely to avoid a western approach, which would expose them to fire, and instead advance from the south and east.

Lebanon’s National News Agency reported that a “large number” of Israeli tanks reached Hamamsa Hill on Khiam’s eastern outskirts, the furthest advance in southern Lebanon since Israeli operations began in late September.

Israeli tanks moved from Metula on Monday, pushing toward Hamamsa Hill, but faced strong resistance.

The lead tanks were hit by anti-tank missiles, and advancing forces encountered heavy artillery and rocket fire, forcing a retreat. Israeli forces responded with intense air and artillery strikes on the town.

Hezbollah later claimed it targeted Israeli soldiers near Khiam, located about six kilometers from the Israeli border, with a barrage of rockets.

On Tuesday morning, Israeli forces resumed attempts to advance from the eastern and southern fronts near Khiam, sparking clashes on both sides of the town, local media reported.

Hezbollah announced it had targeted Israeli soldiers on Khiam’s outskirts with rockets and artillery, claiming its fighters struck a Merkava tank with an anti-tank missile, causing it to catch fire and inflicting casualties.

The Iran-backed group has used a variety of weapons to counter the Israeli advance, including guided missiles, artillery, and drones. It also reported striking Israeli supply lines and said it downed a Hermes 900 drone near Marjayoun, where the fighting continues.

Hezbollah reported last week that it has been pushing back Israeli attempts to infiltrate border villages, with some clashes happening at close range.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military has shared videos showing the demolition of homes in towns it has entered, with explosions captured in Mais al-Jabal, Aitaroun, Yarine, and Dhahira.

Despite the military pressure, Hezbollah has continued launching rockets. A person in Tarshiha was killed by a rocket fired from Lebanon, triggering sirens across multiple Galilee towns.

The Israeli military confirmed that around 50 rockets were fired from Lebanon in this latest attack.



US Tracking Nearly 500 Incidents of Civilian Harm During Israel’s Gaza War

 People pray by the bodies of Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip October 30, 2024. (Reuters)
People pray by the bodies of Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip October 30, 2024. (Reuters)
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US Tracking Nearly 500 Incidents of Civilian Harm During Israel’s Gaza War

 People pray by the bodies of Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip October 30, 2024. (Reuters)
People pray by the bodies of Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip October 30, 2024. (Reuters)

US State Department officials have identified nearly 500 potential incidents of civilian harm during Israel's military operations in Gaza involving US-furnished weapons, but have not taken further action on any of them, three sources, including a US official familiar with the matter, said this week.

The incidents - some of which might have violated international humanitarian law, according to the sources - have been recorded since Oct. 7, 2023, when the Gaza war started. They are being collected by the State Department's Civilian Harm Incident Response Guidance, a formal mechanism for tracking and assessing any reported misuse of US-origin weapons.

State Department officials gathered the incidents from public and non-public sources, including media reporting, civil society groups and foreign government contacts.

The mechanism, which was established in August 2023 to be applied to all countries that receive US arms, has three stages: incident analysis, policy impact assessment, and coordinated department action, according to a December internal State Department cable reviewed by Reuters.

None of the Gaza cases had yet reached the third stage of action, said a former US official familiar with the matter. Options, the former official said, could range from working with Israel's government to help mitigate harm, to suspending existing arms export licenses or withholding future approvals.

The Washington Post first reported the nearly 500 incidents on Wednesday.

The Biden administration has said it is reasonable to assess that Israel has breached international law in the conflict, but assessing individual incidents was "very difficult work," State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters on Wednesday.

"We are conducting those investigations, and we are conducting them thoroughly, and we are conducting them aggressively, but we want to get to the right answer, and it's important that we not jump to a pre-ordained result, and that we not skip any of the work," Miller said, adding that Washington consistently raises concerns over civilian harm with Israel.

The administration of President Joe Biden has long said it is yet to definitively assess an incident in which Israel has violated international humanitarian law during its operation in Gaza.

John Ramming Chappell, advocacy and legal adviser at the Center for Civilians in Conflict, said the Biden administration "has consistently deferred to Israeli authorities and declined to do its own investigations."

"The US government hasn't done nearly enough to investigate how the Israeli military uses weapons made in the United States and paid for by US taxpayers," he said.

The civilian harm process does not only look at potential violations of international law but at any incident where civilians are killed or injured and where US arms are implicated, and looks at whether this could have been avoided or reduced, said one US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

A review of an incident can lead to a recommendation that a unit needs more training or different equipment, as well as more severe consequences, the official said.

Israel's military conduct has come under increasing scrutiny as its forces have killed more than 43,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the enclave's health authorities.

The latest episode of bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered on Oct. 7, 2023, when Palestinian Hamas fighters attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and abducting 250 others, according to Israeli tallies.