Israel Steps Up Provocations in Southern Lebanon

People clear debris at an amusement park that was hit in an Israeli airstrike a day earlier, in southern Lebanon's Nabatiyeh el Faouqa village on January 29, 2025. (Photo by Mahmoud ZAYYAT / AFP)
People clear debris at an amusement park that was hit in an Israeli airstrike a day earlier, in southern Lebanon's Nabatiyeh el Faouqa village on January 29, 2025. (Photo by Mahmoud ZAYYAT / AFP)
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Israel Steps Up Provocations in Southern Lebanon

People clear debris at an amusement park that was hit in an Israeli airstrike a day earlier, in southern Lebanon's Nabatiyeh el Faouqa village on January 29, 2025. (Photo by Mahmoud ZAYYAT / AFP)
People clear debris at an amusement park that was hit in an Israeli airstrike a day earlier, in southern Lebanon's Nabatiyeh el Faouqa village on January 29, 2025. (Photo by Mahmoud ZAYYAT / AFP)

Israel has ramped up its provocations against both the Lebanese government and Hezbollah, striking the southern town of Nabatieh, intensifying aerial activity, deploying drones over Beirut and detaining Lebanese citizens.

Israel has also been stepping up the demolition of homes and infrastructure in villages remaining under its control.

The escalation came after Lebanon’s government agreed to extend the ceasefire until February 18.

Despite the rising tensions, Hezbollah—having already rejected the ceasefire extension—has remained silent on Israel’s breaches.

Military experts attribute this stance to the group’s limited capacity to engage in a fresh conflict, as well as its need to contain public frustration over the prospect of another wave of displacement and destruction.

Israel’s recent escalation and heightened provocations are a “dual message” to both Hezbollah and the Lebanese army, signaling its readiness for military intervention if the ceasefire terms are not upheld, according to retired Brig. Gen. Georges Nader.

“Even though Israel itself has never adhered to agreements, it is making it clear that it is prepared to act at any moment,” Nader told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Addressing the ongoing destruction of border villages still under Israeli occupation, Nader said the intensified demolitions were a direct response to Sunday’s events, when displaced residents insisted on returning to their homes.

“Israel is turning these villages into scorched earth, making them uninhabitable even if it eventually withdraws,” he added.

A military source confirmed that Israeli forces continue to occupy several areas and towns.

The Lebanese army is continuing its deployment south of the Litani River in coordination with the Quintet Committee overseeing the ceasefire, despite Israeli attacks, the military said.

It accused Israeli forces of firing at soldiers and civilians during the deployment and launching two airstrikes on Nabatieh.

The army said it is helping residents in border towns and working to enforce UN Resolution 1701 while taking necessary security measures in the area.



Hamas Says It Is Investigating Possible Error over Hostage Body

 20 February 2025, Palestinian Territories, Khan Younis: Palestinian Hamas members carry one of the four coffins during the handover of the bodies of four Israeli hostages, killed in the Israeli war on Gaza, to the Red Cross in Khan Younis. (dpa)
20 February 2025, Palestinian Territories, Khan Younis: Palestinian Hamas members carry one of the four coffins during the handover of the bodies of four Israeli hostages, killed in the Israeli war on Gaza, to the Red Cross in Khan Younis. (dpa)
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Hamas Says It Is Investigating Possible Error over Hostage Body

 20 February 2025, Palestinian Territories, Khan Younis: Palestinian Hamas members carry one of the four coffins during the handover of the bodies of four Israeli hostages, killed in the Israeli war on Gaza, to the Red Cross in Khan Younis. (dpa)
20 February 2025, Palestinian Territories, Khan Younis: Palestinian Hamas members carry one of the four coffins during the handover of the bodies of four Israeli hostages, killed in the Israeli war on Gaza, to the Red Cross in Khan Younis. (dpa)

Hamas said on Friday it was investigating a possible error in identifying human remains handed to Israel under a ceasefire deal as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened retaliation for failing to release the body of hostage Shiri Bibas.

Hamas was due to hand over the bodies of Shiri Bibas and her two sons Kfir and Ariel on Thursday, along with the remains of a fourth hostage under the ceasefire deal that has halted fighting in Gaza since last month.

Four bodies were delivered and the identities of the Bibas boys and the other hostage, Oded Lifshitz, were confirmed.

But Israeli specialists said the fourth body was that of an unidentified woman and not Bibas, who was kidnapped along with her sons and her husband, Yarden, during the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

Basem Naim, a member of the Hamas political bureau, said "unfortunate mistakes" could occur, especially as Israeli bombing had mixed the bodies of Israeli hostages and Palestinians, thousands of whom were still buried in the rubble.

"We confirm that it is not in our values or our interest to keep any bodies or not to abide by the covenants and agreements that we sign," he said in a statement.

Hamas said separately that it would investigate the Israeli assertions and announce the results.

The failure to hand over the body and the staged public handover of the four coffins on Thursday, caused outrage in Israel and drew a threat of retaliation from Netanyahu.

"We will act with determination to bring Shiri home along with all our hostages - both living and dead - and ensure Hamas pays the full price for this cruel and evil violation of the agreement," he said in a video statement, accusing Hamas of acting "in an unspeakably cynical manner" by placing the body of a Gaza woman in the coffin instead of Bibas.

Hamas said in November 2023 that the children and their mother had been killed in an Israeli air strike and Ismail Al-Thawabta, director of the Hamas-run Gaza government media office, said Netanyahu "bears full responsibility for killing her and her children."

But the Israeli military said intelligence assessments and forensic analysis of the bodies of the Bibas children indicated that they were deliberately killed by their captors. Chief military spokesperson Daniel Hagari said the boys were killed by the militants "with their bare hands", but gave no details.

Netanyahu gave no details of a possible Israeli response, but the incident underscored the fragility of the ceasefire agreement reached with US backing and with the help of Qatari and Egyptian mediators last month.

SATURDAY EXCHANGE

Six living hostages are due for release on Saturday in exchange for 602 Palestinian prisoners and detainees, according to Hamas, and the start of negotiations for a second phase of the ceasefire is expected in the coming days.

"Hamas must return the hostages as agreed in the ceasefire- the living and the deceased," Israeli military spokesperson Nadav Shoshani said in a statement on social media platform X. "They have to bring Shiri back, and they have to release the 6 living hostages expected tomorrow."

Netanyahu's office confirmed it had been officially informed of the names of the six hostages to be released, which Hamas sources said was expected at around 8.30 a.m. (0630 GMT).

As the tension over the Gaza ceasefire rose, Netanyahu ordered the Israeli military to intensify operations in another Palestinian territory, the occupied West Bank, after a number of explosions blew up buses standing empty in their depots near Tel Aviv.

No casualties were reported but the explosions were a reminder of the campaign of suicide attacks on public transport that killed hundreds of Israeli civilians during the Second Intifada in the early 2000s.

'THEY MAKE A JOKE OF US'

Both sides have repeatedly accused the other of ceasefire violations, with Hamas threatening to delay the release of hostages over what it said was Israel's refusal to allow housing materials and other aid into Gaza, a charge Israel denied.

"It's like they make a joke of us," said 75-year-old Ilana Caspi. "We are so in grief and this is even more, it's like you make a punch again, another one and another one, it's really terrible."

The Red Cross told Reuters it was "concerned and unsatisfied" by the fact that the handover of the bodies had not been conducted privately and in a dignified manner.

Despite the outrage over Shiri Bibas, there was no indication that Israel would not take part in talks over a second phase of the ceasefire deal.

The Israel Hayom newspaper reported that Israeli negotiators were considering seeking an extension of the 42-day ceasefire, to delay moving to a second phase, which would involve talks over hard-to-resolve issues including an end to the war and the future of Hamas in Gaza.