08-05-2025
Over 15 Israeli strikes target Nabatieh region
Over 15 missiles were launched at the hills of Nabatieh Fawqa, the hills of Kfartabnit, and the Ali al-Taher forest (all located in Nabatieh), L'Orient Today's correspondent in the south reported Thursday.
Ambulances have been dispatched to the locations hit by Israeli airstrikes in the Nabatieh region, according to our correspondent.
Our correspondent reports that light injuries and cases of fainting have been reported in homes near the bombed sites. No official casualty figures from the airstrikes are available at this time.
The strikes in Nabatieh are one of Israel's most intense bombardments since a cease-fire brokered by the US in November, two security sources told Reuters.
'Diplomacy is indeed protecting us,' Hussein Fawaz, who was in Ghazieh at the time of the strikes, told L'Orient Today. 'The government rushed to distribute baklava and flowers to Emiratis arriving in Lebanon but left its citizens in the south under the mercy of Israel.'
Two Emirates Airlines planes landed at Beirut airport on Wednesday after the United Arab Emirates announced the lifting of the travel ban to Lebanon imposed on its nationals from August 2023.
'It seems Israel won't stop on its own; it must be stopped'
Hassan, who prefers to use only his first name due to also holding American nationality, is in Lebanon for his engagement and was in Kfar Jouz to buy jewelry for his fiancee. "I had never heard airstrikes like this before," he told L'Orient Today. "People didn't seem to react, even the children. They looked scared, but didn't really scream — it's becoming like a new normal. It seems Israel won't stop on its own; it must be stopped."
According to witnesses contacted by L'Orient Today, the streets of Nabatieh are crowded following Israeli airstrikes on the hills surrounding the city, located north of the Litani River. An educator at al-Moustapha School shared that parents arrived at the school to pick up their children before classes ended.
"Hezbollah should attack Israel. This is ridiculous. We are being attacked daily, and no one is stopping Israel. Now the President [Joseph Aoun] will come out in the media and say, 'I condemn this attack.' How does his condemnation benefit me?' Mira Abu Khalil, a 27-year-old resident of Sour, told L'Orient Today.
Since a cease-fire began between Hezbollah and Israel on Nov.27, Hezbollah has refrained from attacking Israel except for one instance, despite almost daily Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon, and three airstrikes on the southern suburbs of Beirut.
Less than one hour after the strike Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam affirmed in a post on X "that all Israeli violations and breaches of Resolution 1701 and the cease-fire understandings must cease, and that the government has not and will not spare any effort to expedite the Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territory."
'Social media users split'
The term 'southern Lebanon' began trending almost immediately in Arabic on X in Lebanon.
Social media users split between anger towards the strike and hailing of Israeli strikes on alleged Hezbollah infrastructure.
@Elwhylamya2 wrote on X: "Your weapons are destroying Lebanon."
