Israel is escalating its campaign in southern Lebanon beyond direct military operations, pursuing what Lebanese officials describe as a systematic destruction of infrastructure, particularly in villages along the so-called “Yellow Line.”
Hospitals, schools, and water, electricity and telecommunications networks have been repeatedly targeted, alongside the destruction of bridges and roads, severing links between towns and isolating communities.
Lebanese ministerial sources noted that the approach is part of a policy of displacement. Residents have been repeatedly warned not to return to more than 80 villages, in what appears to be an effort to create an uninhabited buffer zone lacking basic services.
Air strikes have also hit areas outside occupied zones, including Wadi al-Hujeir, which was struck on Tuesday.
Israeli demolitions using explosives and bulldozers have not been limited to homes, but health and education facilities, seen by Lebanese officials as part of pressure on Hezbollah’s support base.
Israel considers civilian infrastructure in these areas a form of indirect support for the group and a potential platform where it can renew its activity.
Hospitals hit
From the first hours after hostilities erupted on March 2, triggering large-scale displacement, the Israeli army targeted hospitals and health centers in the south.
MP Bilal Abdullah, head of the parliamentary health committee, said Isarel had “intensified the destruction of health institutions and the medical system in southern villages.”
He told Asharq Al-Awsat that available data indicate “partial destruction of eight southern hospitals, all of which are now completely out of service,” listing them as the Tebnin Governmental Hospital, Sheikh Ragheb Harb Hospital, Salah Ghandour Hospital, Hiram Hospital, Jabal Amel Hospital, Hasbaya Governmental Hospital and Bint Jbeil Governmental Hospital.
He added that “the greatest damage has affected primary health centers,” noting that more than 100 ambulances had been destroyed and 121 doctors and paramedics killed in the hospitals and medical centers he listed.
Education sector targeted
The destruction of infrastructure is also aimed at deterring civilians from returning to the area for years to come, Lebanese officials say.
The education sector has been among the hardest hit. A source at the education ministry told Asharq Al-Awsat that targeting schools and institutes aims “to undermine the population’s ability to remain in their towns.”
Israel sees strikes on education as an effective way to empty villages of residents, forcing families to relocate in search of schooling alternatives for their children, the source stated.
The war has resulted in the total destruction of public schools in Dhayra, Bustan, Yarin and Tayr Harfa, as well as partial damage to Naqoura Intermediate School. In vocational and technical education, the Khiam and Qantara institutes have been completely destroyed, while institutes in Bint Jbeil, Aita al-Shaab, Tebnin, Toul, Nabatiyeh, Zrariyeh, Jbaa, Maarakeh, Abbasiyeh, Jouaiyya, Qana and Ansar have sustained partial damage.
The extent of structural damage means some of these institutions may be beyond repair, the source added.
According to education ministry statistics, schools in Nabatiyeh and its district have suffered the most damage: one school has been completely destroyed, 18 heavily damaged and seven left unharmed, while no information is currently available on 61 others.
Electricity and water
Damage to electricity and water infrastructure has also been severe. A source at the energy and water ministry told Asharq Al-Awsat it is not yet possible to compile a precise assessment of losses, but it confirmed damage to a number of power transformers and water facilities.
“The biggest problem lies in water networks,” the source remarked, noting that losses in the sector during the 2024 war exceeded $100 million. “The damage in this war surpasses that figure,” due to the destruction or disruption of pumping stations, treatment plants, reservoirs and supply networks.
Israel is pressing ahead with turning dozens of southern villages into a scorched zone, in what observers see as an attempt to extract political or security concessions from Lebanon. The higher the cost of destruction, the greater the pressure on the Lebanese state to seek arrangements to halt the war and limit its losses.
