About two dozen buildings were demolished in the village, which The Times identified as Mhaibib, just over a mile from Israel’s northern border.
The Israeli military destroyed most of a village in southern Lebanon this week with a series of explosions, according to videos verified by The New York Times and satellite images. About two dozen buildings were demolished in the village, which The Times identified as Mhaibib, just over a mile from Israel’s northern border.
In a video taken from a distance, which circulated widely online, soldiers who appear to be wearing Israeli uniforms react with exclamations in Hebrew as they watch buildings explode simultaneously.
It was not possible to determine the source of that footage. But The Times confirmed that it depicted the same demolition shown in another video, published by an Israeli radio station, in which Israeli soldiers give thumbs-up signs as they watch the destruction of the buildings on a drone controller screen.
In a series of posts on social media, the Israeli military said that its soldiers had “dismantled” a tunnel network used by Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force on Wednesday, saying that it ran through “the heart of a village.” Accompanying the statement was aerial footage that showed several explosions and smoke rising from the village. The statement did not name the location, but The Times geolocated the video to Mhaibib. Hezbollah has made no public comment on the Israeli assertion, and the Israeli military, asked about the village on Friday, said that it was “checking.”
Satellite imagery of the village captured before and after the detonations show that only a couple of buildings are left standing after the Israeli operation, which the military’s statement said had been carried out by the 91st Division.
Source: Satellite imagery by Planet Labs
By The New York Times
