Israel Launches Largest Incursion into South Lebanon

Israeli soldiers attend the funeral of a soldier killed in the battles of South Lebanon. (EPA)
Israeli soldiers attend the funeral of a soldier killed in the battles of South Lebanon. (EPA)
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Israel Launches Largest Incursion into South Lebanon

Israeli soldiers attend the funeral of a soldier killed in the battles of South Lebanon. (EPA)
Israeli soldiers attend the funeral of a soldier killed in the battles of South Lebanon. (EPA)

The Israeli army launched its “largest incursion” into southern Lebanon on Thursday, advancing along three main axes.
On the western front, forces reached the outskirts of Shamaa, a town located about 4 kilometers from the border, where they engaged in clashes with Hezbollah.
This marked the first day of a ground operation whose scope and objectives remain undefined. The incursion was accompanied by widespread aerial bombardment targeting villages located 7 to 15 kilometers deep within Lebanese territory.
The Israeli army stated that forces from the 91st Division were expanding the scope of the ground operation into the outskirts of the second line of villages in South Lebanon, entering areas where Israeli forces had not previously accessed. During the operation, commandos from the division reportedly discovered a rocket-launch platform containing 32 launchers, along with weapons depots, various munitions, and underground tunnels.
Although the Israeli army did not specify the operation’s scale or location, sources in South Lebanon told Asharq Al-Awsat that Israel was conducting “its broadest incursion attempt across all sectors.”
The incursion reached the outskirts of the strategic town of Shama, which overlooks the city of Tyre. A Lebanese security source informed Asharq Al-Awsat that infiltration attempts began at dawn along the Dahira axis. This border town, heavily destroyed in recent weeks, was part of a path leading toward Wadi Hamoul and Shama.
Sources confirmed that Israeli forces reached Shama’s outskirts, where heavy clashes were ongoing.
On the western front, the Israeli army avoided crossing wooded areas and valleys, opting instead for exposed paths to minimize the risk of direct rocket attacks by Hezbollah fighters believed to be entrenched in those regions. This approach followed a shorter route from Dhaira through the outskirts of Teir Harfa toward Shama. Notably, Shama hosts one of the largest UNIFIL bases in southern Lebanon.
Local media reported fierce clashes involving machine guns, followed by Israeli artillery shelling of Teir Harfa with phosphorus and heavy artillery shells. Reports also emerged of an Israeli Merkava tank being destroyed while advancing in Wadi Al-Batishiya en route to Teir Harfa.
An Israeli helicopter was spotted evacuating injured soldiers from the incursion axis. By afternoon, Israeli forces had reportedly withdrawn from some incursion points back toward the border, while Hezbollah continued targeting military positions with rocket fire.
The Israeli army appears focused on reaching the highlands overlooking Wadi Al-Hujeir, believed to be a launching site for rockets targeting Israel. This strategy mirrors its geographic positioning in southern Lebanon before its withdrawal in 2000.
Local media reported attempts to penetrate along multiple axes, including Dahira–Alma Al-Shaab–Hamoul on the western front, and Naqoura–Teir Harfa in the same sector.
In the central sector, incursions targeted Yaron–Bint Jbeil, Ayta Al-Shaab–Bint Jbeil, and Ayta Al-Shaab–Ainata. In the eastern sector, Israeli forces attempted to advance through Al-Abbad–Houla and Wadi Hounin–Marjayoun.

Field sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that airstrikes resumed on border villages, suggesting that Hezbollah fighters had managed to re-enter areas previously seized by Israeli forces.
The renewed aerial bombardment targeted villages along the third and fourth defensive lines in a bid to disrupt the missile and artillery support aiding Hezbollah fighters on the ground.
The intense Israeli shelling and airstrikes extended 7 to 12 kilometers deep into Lebanese territory, hitting the outskirts of villages such as Zibqin, Majdal Zoun, Sheihin, Shaqra, Braachit, Tiri, Qabrikha, Al-Mansouri, and others. Dozens of villages were reportedly struck with heavy artillery and air raids.
The objectives, scale, and timeline of the Israeli military operation remain unclear. Israeli media reports indicate uncertainty about whether the incursion is aimed at establishing permanent military positions in South Lebanon, or simply destroying border villages in the second defensive line, as had been done with villages in the first line.
The lack of clarity stems from the Israeli withdrawal from first-line villages, which enabled Hezbollah to regain access to those areas.
While Yedioth Ahronoth reported that the military seeks to establish conditions for a post-war scenario in southern Lebanon—preventing armed Hezbollah presence south of the Litani River, particularly in the first and second defensive lines—other commentators argue that significant amounts of Hezbollah’s rocket stockpiles, which continue to target deep into Israel, are located in second-line villages. These areas are considered close enough to the border for Hezbollah to launch effective strikes on Israeli territory.

 

 



Trump Administration Ends Some USAID Contracts Providing Lifesaving Aid across the Middle East

A USAID flag flutters outside, as the USAID building sits closed to employees after a memo was issued advising agency personnel to work remotely, in Washington, DC, US, February 3, 2025. (Reuters)
A USAID flag flutters outside, as the USAID building sits closed to employees after a memo was issued advising agency personnel to work remotely, in Washington, DC, US, February 3, 2025. (Reuters)
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Trump Administration Ends Some USAID Contracts Providing Lifesaving Aid across the Middle East

A USAID flag flutters outside, as the USAID building sits closed to employees after a memo was issued advising agency personnel to work remotely, in Washington, DC, US, February 3, 2025. (Reuters)
A USAID flag flutters outside, as the USAID building sits closed to employees after a memo was issued advising agency personnel to work remotely, in Washington, DC, US, February 3, 2025. (Reuters)

The Trump administration has notified the World Food Program and other partners that it has terminated some of the last remaining lifesaving humanitarian programs across the Middle East, a US official and a UN official told The Associated Press on Monday.

The projects were being canceled “for the convenience of the US Government” at the direction of Jeremy Lewin, a top lieutenant at Trump adviser Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency whom the Trump administration appointed to oversee and finish dismantling the US Agency for International Development, according to letters sent to USAID partners and viewed by the AP.

About 60 letters canceling contracts were sent over the past week, including for major projects with the World Food Program, the world’s largest provider of food aid, a USAID official said. An official with the United Nations in the Middle East said the World Food Program received termination letters for US-funded programs in Lebanon, Jordan and Syria.

Both officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly.

Some of the last remaining US funding for key programs in Yemen, Somalia, Afghanistan and the southern African nation of Zimbabwe also was affected, including for those providing food, water, medical care and shelter for people displaced by war, the USAID official said.

The UN official said the groups that would be hit hardest include Syrian refugees in Jordan and Lebanon. Also affected are programs supporting vulnerable Lebanese people and providing irrigation systems inside Syria, a country emerging from a brutal civil war and struggling with poverty and hunger.

In Yemen, another war-divided country that is facing one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters, the terminated aid apparently includes food that has already arrived in distribution centers, the UN official said.

Aid officials were just learning of many of the cuts Monday and said they were struggling to understand their scope.

Another of the notices, sent Friday, abruptly pulled US funding for a program with strong support in Congress that had sent young Afghan women overseas for schooling amid Taliban prohibitions on women’s education, said an administrator for that project, which is run by Texas A&M University.

The young women would now face return to Afghanistan, where their lives would be in danger, according to that administrator, who was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The Trump administration had pledged to spare those most urgent, lifesaving programs in its cutting of aid and development programs through the State Department and USAID.

The Republican administration already has canceled thousands of USAID contracts as it dismantles USAID, which it accuses of wastefulness and of advancing liberal causes.

The newly terminated contracts were among about 900 surviving programs that Secretary of State Marco Rubio had notified Congress he intended to preserve, the USAID official said.

There was no immediate comment from the State Department.