FRoun, Lebanon \u2013 Hasan Saeid Ramadan, 56, was inside his home in this southern municipality when seismic explosions rocked the area. “It shook the ground like an earthquake, and the mountain collapsed,” he said, gesturing toward the nearby Qantara mountains.<\/p>\n
Israeli troops are stationed just south of Froun, occupying extensive swathes of southern Lebanon where they conduct ongoing operations, including regular detonations that officials say target Hezbollah infrastructure. Explosives set off along the Qantara range this week caused visible collapses in at least two locations. Residents in border villages such as Ghandouriyeh, Bourj Qalaway, and Qalaway report that the sounds of war\u2014drone hums, aircraft, and primarily Israeli demolitions\u2014are constant and frequently disrupt sleep.<\/p>\n
“Day and night,” Ramadan said as another explosion echoed in the distance, believed to be the destruction of a dwelling. “We even see them. It\u2019s become routine.”<\/p>\n
Israel launched its second invasion of Lebanon in March, less than two years after its first incursion in October 2024. While the initial invasion ended with a near-total withdrawal, soldiers remain in five locations. Following the second invasion, Israeli officials have insisted on maintaining their presence despite U.S. assurances that Israel has no territorial ambitions in Lebanon. Although President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire in April, the Israeli military has continued strikes it claims target Hezbollah assets.<\/p>\n
The Lebanese state is engaged in U.S.-brokered direct negotiations with Israel, a path opposed by Hezbollah and its allies, who prefer indirect talks to end the conflict and remove the Israeli footprint. In June, Israel and Lebanon agreed to a framework establishing “pilot zones” intended as test areas for the Lebanese army to disarm Hezbollah and for Israeli forces to withdraw. The initial zones included Froun, Srifa, and Zawtar al-Gharbiyeh, though locals contested the inclusion of Froun and Srifa, asserting they were never occupied.<\/p>\n
“[The Israelis] didn’t take a single step here,” Ramadan stated.<\/p>\n
Analysts question the viability of the pilot zone initiative. Nicholas Blanford, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, noted that the scheme requires goodwill from all parties. “The Israelis have said they are not going to stage any more withdrawals, so it brings the process to a halt,” he told Al Jazeera. He added that both Hezbollah and Israel have contributed to undermining the effort: Hezbollah rejects the plan outright, favoring Iranian pressure on the U.S., while Israel has expanded its occupation rather than reducing it.<\/p>\n
In villages adjacent to Israeli-controlled territory, homes and infrastructure lie in ruins. Roads are lined with piles of concrete rubble and dust, and explosions continue throughout the day, often worsening at night. During the peak of the war, these areas became ghost towns as residents fled north to Sidon or Beirut, staying with relatives, in camps, or on the streets.<\/p>\n
Some residents returned after the framework agreement was announced, only to find their communities unrecognizable. Mohammad Ali Nader, head of the Ghandouriyeh municipality, described the area as formerly agricultural, with farmers cultivating olives, wheat, chickpeas, corn, and tobacco. Today, the land is devastated, with most homes destroyed and residents lacking water or electricity. Cranes and construction equipment were heard moving debris behind Nader as he stood amidst the remains of a two-story home destroyed by two Israeli rockets.<\/p>\n
“Much like all the other houses that were destroyed, this house is no longer habitable,” Nader said. “We used to grow carob here, but where is there carob now? Not a carob is left nor olives, tobacco or wheat.”<\/p>\n
Nasser Mokdad, an official in Froun, confirmed that the area is currently without state-provided electricity, though the government aims to restore services by September 15.<\/p>\n
Hasan Bazzi, head of the Froun municipality, compared the current situation to the Israeli occupation from 1982 to 2000. He noted a key difference: during the previous occupation, southerners remained in their villages. Now, demolitions in occupied areas make return difficult even if troops eventually leave.<\/p>\n
Ramadan fled his home of 30 years when the war restarted, seeking refuge near Tyre and later moving to Sidon. Upon returning after the truce, he found his house damaged but intact, unlike neighboring properties belonging to his cousins. He now sleeps in his garage with his wife due to the lack of utilities. The nighttime heat has caused a severe rash, and during the day he repairs shrapnel holes in his walls.<\/p>\n
“My conscience is at ease because I\u2019m by my home,” Ramadan said, wiping sweat from his face under the midday sun.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Israeli forces continue nightly demolitions in southern Lebanon’s designated pilot zones, displacing residents and undermining a fragile framework agreement aimed at disarmament and withdrawal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[288,365,17,286,33,935,10],"class_list":["post-368","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-conflict","tag-hezbollah","tag-israel","tag-lebanon","tag-middle-east","tag-southern-lebanon","tag-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/yovao.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/yovao.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/yovao.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yovao.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yovao.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=368"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/yovao.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/yovao.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=368"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yovao.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=368"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yovao.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=368"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}