Despite Ceasefire, Israel Continues to Expand Occupation of Southern Lebanon

"For six weeks, she and her two adult daughters had languished in a crowded school shelter in Saida, a city 27 miles south of the capital Beirut. They were among 1.1 million people uprooted from their homes when Israel escalated its war on Lebanon on March 2, ostensibly to disarm the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. Like many of them, al-Qusaybi and her daughters packed their belongings and returned to their town when the ceasefire was announced. On the ride down, they passed mounds of rubble and their phones vibrated with news of ongoing airstrikes."

"Despite the apparent truce, Israel was still bombing south Lebanon. "Israel killed three young men in our town on the day we returned," al-Qusaybi, 57, told Truthout. "They were killed within the first hour we arrived." Israel is still breaching the agreement three weeks into the ceasefire. On May 6, it bombed the southern suburbs of Beirut to assassinate a Hezbollah commander, marking the first attack on the capital since the ceasefire."

"Days earlier, Israel killed at least 110 people across the south between May 1 and May 4, according to Lebanon's health ministry. Israel has also exploited the ceasefire to blow up entire villages and vital infrastructure as part of a strategy to empty Lebanese lands and turn them into what it has called a "buffer zone." U.S. President Donald Trump has justified the daily breaches by arguing that the ceasefire doesn't strip Israel of its right to "self-defense.""

"Yet analysts and rights groups say that "self-defense" has become a euphemism for waging a forever war ag"

On April 17, a ceasefire announcement reached Zahra al-Qusaybi and her two adult daughters after six weeks in a crowded school shelter in Saida. They returned to their town, but airstrikes continued and rubble remained. Al-Qusaybi reported that three young men were killed within the first hour of their arrival after the ceasefire. Israel continued breaching the ceasefire three weeks later, including bombing southern suburbs of Beirut on May 6 to assassinate a Hezbollah commander, the first attack on the capital since the ceasefire. Earlier, Israel killed at least 110 people across southern Lebanon between May 1 and May 4. The ceasefire has also been used to destroy villages and vital infrastructure as part of a strategy to empty Lebanese lands and create a buffer zone.

Read at Truthout