Israeli officers and soldiers have acknowledged carrying out widespread destruction of buildings in villages in southern Lebanon, saying their mission goes beyond targeting Hezbollah infrastructure.
Since March 2, Israel has waged an offensive on Lebanon that has killed at least 2,534 people, wounded 7,863 and displaced more than 1.6 million — about one-fifth of the population — according to official figures.
A 10-day ceasefire that began on April 17 was later extended until May 17, but Israel continues to violate it daily through air strikes and the demolition of homes in southern Lebanon.
While the Israeli army has released footage of large-scale demolitions, claiming it is targeting “Hezbollah infrastructure,” soldiers cited by Israeli newspaper Haaretz said the reality is different.
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Quoting unnamed field soldiers, the newspaper reported on Wednesday that “much of what they do now isn’t directly fighting Hezbollah, but systematically destroying buildings in villages in southern Lebanon.”
“The only mission is to continue the destruction. There is no other mission,” an Israeli officer said.
Another added that, contrary to the army’s claims, “it isn’t terrorist infrastructure; we’re destroying everything.”
According to the daily, the army refers to its plan to demolish “Shiite villages” in southern Lebanon as “Operation Silver Plow.”
“As part of this plan, a polygon is marked out for each of the units in the area showing the section they are responsible for razing,” the newspaper said.
“At the end of every day, there’s an assessment of what was accomplished, and every commander is required to report how many homes he destroyed.”
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