STORY: Lebanese villagers mourn erased hometowns upon return
SHOOTING TIME: Jan. 24, 2025
DATELINE: Jan. 25, 2025
LENGTH: 00:02:24
LOCATION: NAQOURA, Lebanon
CATEGORY: SOCIETY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of Naqoura residents
2. various of destroyed houses in Naqoura
3. SOUNDBITE (Arabic): NASSIM AWADA, Naqoura resident
4. various of Naqoura

STORYLINE:

Since Sept. 23, 2024, the Israeli army has expanded its military offensive on Lebanon, launching a two-phase ground operation along the entire 120-km border. In some areas, the incursion extended more than five km deep into Lebanese territory.

Hashem Haidar, head of Lebanon's South Council, responsible for assessing damage from Israeli strikes, told Xinhua that 63 villages in the border region had been affected. "Of these, 29 front-line villages have been completely obliterated, homes, roads, orchards, and infrastructure wiped off the map."

Haidar said these villages were now uninhabitable for years to come, adding that reconstruction would require immense effort and a well-structured rebuilding plan.

Military analyst Brigadier General Abdul Rahman Shehaitli told Xinhua that Israel's destruction of these villages serves a strategic purpose, establishing a buffer zone approximately three km deep along its border with Lebanon.

"The scale of destruction was meant, first, to punish border communities seen as supportive of Hezbollah," he explained. "Second, it aims to delay their return as long as possible. Clearing rubble and rebuilding infrastructure will take years."

According to Shehaitli, this effectively creates an uninhabited buffer zone under the control of the Lebanese Army and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) for the foreseeable future.

SOUNDBITE (Arabic): NASSIM AWADA, Naqoura resident
"I have been out of my hometown for eight months now, that is all that I can say. This is my uncle's house and my cousin lives upstairs. And it is obvious that the damages are not caused by bombing, but due to razing by bulldozers. It is pure organized destruction."

Lebanon's Health Ministry reported 4,047 deaths and 16,638 injuries from Israeli bombardments across the country.

According to Information International, a Beirut-based research firm, the direct and indirect costs of the Israeli assault on Lebanon have reached 11.2 billion U.S. dollars. If fully funded, reconstruction is expected to take at least four years, it said.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Naqoura, Lebanon.
(XHTV)