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Three Lebanese army soldiers in clearly identifiable military uniforms were killed and five seriously injured in separate Israeli drone strikes in southern Lebanon on Tuesday, two security sources told The National.
The attacks have raised concerns Israel may be expanding its strikes to include Lebanese Armed Forces troops, despite previous assurances it would not.
In Nabatieh district, a strike on a group of five soldiers travelling by car and motorcycle killed one and seriously wounded the other four. Two more soldiers were killed in the village of Zibdin while riding a motorcycle, and another soldier was seriously injured in a separate strike in Doueir. All were wearing army-issued fatigues, distinct from those of Hezbollah fighters battling to push the Israeli army out of the area.
“We know the technological capability of the Israeli army, so it’s difficult to imagine they would not notice the Lebanese army fatigues,” one of the security sources said. “These were direct hits, by drone, with no one else but the Lebanese soldiers around.”
Another security source referred to the attacks as “a message”, but declined to elaborate.
The Lebanese army is investigating the incidents and awaiting clarification from Israel.
An Israeli army spokeswoman said it was “aware of the claim” that LAF soldiers were injured, adding that it was investigating the first strike, but did not address the other two.
She said that Israel operates against Hezbollah, which it has pledged to eradicate, and not against the Lebanese Armed Forces. Israel had previously assured Lebanese officials it would not attack the LAF, according to a political source familiar with the matter.
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A fireball rises from the site of an Israeli air strike that hit a building in Beirut’s Bachoura neighbourhood. Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war on March 2 when Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah launched rockets towards Israel in response to US-Israeli strikes that killed Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. AFP -
Firefighters at the site of the Israeli air strike in Bachoura. Lebanon said Israel struck central Beirut on March 18 without warning, killing at least six people, as the Israeli army announced it was attacking the country's south. AFP -
People walk past damaged cars and rubble at the site of the Israeli air strike in Bachoura. AFP -
Firefighters and people gather at the site of the Israeli air strike. AFP -
An Israeli air strike hits Beirut’s Bachoura neighbourhood. AFP -
Firefighters at the site of the Israeli air strike. Lebanon's official National News Agency (NNA) said that a building in central Bachoura neighbourhood was hit. AFP -
AFP correspondents heard a blast and AFPTV footage showed smoke billowing from the area. AFP -
A firefighter looks at debris at the site of the Israeli air strike. AFP -
A man walks past rubble at the site of the Israeli air strike in Bachoura. AFP
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun called the killing of soldiers and civilians a “flagrant violation of international and humanitarian law” and accused Israel of undermining efforts to strengthen the LAF as the country’s sole legitimate bearer of arms.
The incidents have raised concerns over Israel’s strategy.
The LAF’s Dilemma
“The LAF is in the most difficult position it’s ever been in the history of the country because Lebanon itself is in its most difficult position,” according to retired Brig Gen Hassan Jouni, now a professor of international law at the Lebanese University.
The army does not have the "balance of power" to face off against the Israeli military, nor does it have the power to enforce a Lebanese government position to ban Hezbollah's weapons, he said.
He was referring to a government decision to ban Hezbollah’s military activities, taken shortly after the group unilaterally fired rockets into Israel on March 2 on behalf of its ally Iran, reigniting war in Lebanon. Army commander General Rodolphe Haykal refused to deploy LAF troops against Hezbollah while Israel wages war in Lebanon, placing the government in an even more difficult position as it seeks to show Western powers that it is attempting to take control of the situation.
Applying the decision to disarm Hezbollah would "force it to clash" with the Lebanese group, "because Hezbollah refuses this decision," Brig Gen Jouni said.
Previously, a 15-month ceasefire had been largely one-sided: Hezbollah mostly held its fire, while Israel continued daily attacks and maintained a partial presence on Lebanese territory. Still, the ceasefire brought a measure of stability and allowed some, though not all, displaced residents to return home. Israel used the period to push the Lebanese state to enact measures that would see Hezbollah disarmed.
Hezbollah’s rocket volley provoked a fierce Israeli response, with Israel pledging to eradicate the group by any means. Since the conflict reignited, more than 980 people have been killed – at least a quarter of them women, children and medical personnel. The violence has also displaced more than a million people, according to Lebanese government estimates, as Israel intensifies its campaign across Lebanon.
Another retired Brigadier General, who did not want to be identified, suggested Tuesday’s drone strikes could be a form of psychological warfare. “It’s a message to the army and to Hezbollah that even identifiable LAF soldiers can be targeted. It may also make Hezbollah think twice about moving freely in the south.”
The LAF is known to be weaker than Hezbollah’s well-trained and better-funded paramilitary, further undermining its role as a national defence force.
Already, the LAF-unable to defend itself against Israel's advances -has withdrawn from checkpoints in southern Lebanon.
“In theory, the government has the moral right. But in practice, the Lebanese state – and the LAF – have no power in this situation,” the unnamed Brig Gen, told The National.
The LAF has been effectively "forced sit back and watch” a conflict on the territory it is sworn to protect, the Brigadier General said. If it attempts to enforce the government’s decision to disarm Hezbollah during an active war, it risks being seen as siding with Israel against its own people. But if it defends itself against Israeli attacks, it could invite further major strikes.
"We don't want to get to the point where the army is fighting its own people," he said.
