Israel hits key Lebanon bridge, orders homes destroyed
Israel struck the main bridge connecting southern Lebanon to the rest of the country after ordering its army to destroy all crossing points on Lebanon’s Litani River and step up the demolition of homes near the southern border.
The destruction of bridges and houses on Sunday marked a significant escalation in Israel’s military campaign in Lebanon, which was plunged into regional war on March 2 when the armed group Hezbollah opened fire on Israeli territory.
International law generally prohibits militaries from attacking civilian infrastructure, and the United Nations human rights chief criticized Israel’s actions in Lebanon, particularly its implementation of widespread evacuation orders.
Sunday’s strike destroyed a crossing on Lebanon’s coastal highway, one of the main routes through farmland and connecting southern and central Lebanon.
The Israeli military spokesman had announced that the army would hit the bridge early on Sunday.
Earlier, an Israeli was killed in his car near the Lebanese border after what the army described as a “throw” from Lebanese territory. This was the first Israeli civilian death linked to fire from Lebanon in the current war. Two Israeli soldiers were also killed in clashes in southern Lebanon.
According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, more than 1,000 people died in Israel’s attacks on Lebanon, including approximately 120 children, 80 women and 40 medical personnel. Lebanese authorities make no further distinction between civilians and militants.
The military has been ordered to destroy all bridges over the Litani River used for “terrorist activities” to prevent Hezbollah militants and their weapons from advancing south, Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Sunday.
The Israeli army had destroyed three bridges in Southern Lebanon in the last 10 days.
Katz also said the military had been ordered to step up the demolition of homes in “frontline villages” in Lebanon to neutralize threats to Israeli communities.
He said the approach was similar to the model used in Beit Hanoun and Rafah in Gaza, where the army created buffer zones by clearing and demolishing buildings near the border.
Ramzi Kaiss, Lebanon researcher for Human Rights Watch, told Reuters that international law requires armed actors to take into account civilian harm caused by attacks on infrastructure such as bridges, even if the targets are used for military purposes.
“If all these bridges were destroyed and the area south of the Litani was isolated from the rest of the country, then the damage to civilians would be so great that you would face a humanitarian disaster if people still living in the south could not access food, medicine and other basic needs,” Kaiss said. he said.
He added that the wholesale destruction of homes in southern Lebanon would amount to wanton destruction, a war crime.
The Israeli army said its soldiers carried out what it called ground maneuvers and targeted raids on Hezbollah militants and weapons depots in southern Lebanon. Israeli officials say the air and ground operations are aimed at protecting residents of northern Israel near the Lebanese border from Hezbollah attacks.
