The Israeli military widened its operations in south Lebanon, combining airstrikes, artillery fire, ground incursions, demolitions and sweeping operations across multiple towns and regions.
The Israeli military expanded the scope of its military operations in an evident escalation across south Lebanon, combining airstrikes, artillery bombardment, ground incursions, demolition operations and sweeping fire across multiple sectors. On a single day, strikes targeted Ali al-Taher heights, Nabatiye al-Fawqa, Tuffah region, Mieh al-Jabal, al-Mansouri, Haraysh and Kafrshouba.
The escalation shifted in the afternoon when strikes moved to Arbasilyine. The Israeli military said that Hezbollah had launched two explosive drones toward its forces operating in the Ali al-Taher area during the preceding hours. At approximately half past two in the afternoon, it announced the start of strikes in south Lebanon in response to what it called Hezbollah violations. Two strikes hit Arbasilyine amid initial reports of casualties, while a drone strike targeted Nabatiye al-Fawqa.
According to the National News Agency, an Arbasilyine strike killed civilian Saja Moussa Sharara and wounded others after a warplane destroyed her family home in the town. Sharara had been married 48 hours earlier.
The Israeli military later said it attacked Hezbollah infrastructure in Nabatiye in response to drone launches toward its forces, adding that it would not allow threats to Israeli citizens and forces and would continue to eliminate such threats. The Israeli military radio said that Hezbollah had fired five explosive drones toward Israeli forces attempting to operate in the Ali al-Taher area during the current month. No statement from Hezbollah confirmed the Israeli account of drone launches.
Afternoon strikes came hours after intensive airstrikes on Ali al-Taher. Retired Brigadier Hassan Jouni, a military analyst, told al-Sharq al-Awsat that Arbasilyine targeting fits a pattern Israel is attempting to establish: any Hezbollah action, however limited and wherever located, will be met with Israeli response elsewhere. He said Israel has employed this approach before, including strikes on Ansariya, and is now restating the same message through Arbasilyine. The core message, he said, is that Israel wants to prevent any Hezbollah military action and establish a rule that such movements will trigger response elsewhere.
On strikes extending to Tuffah region, Jouni said the area is historically significant to Hezbollah geographically, militarily and in terms of weapons positioning. He stressed that Tuffah targeting does not necessarily mean direct connection to the Ali al-Taher situation or a definite sign of broader operational expansion. What is visible so far can be framed as an attempt to impose new rules of engagement rather than evidence by itself of a shift to wider military expansion.
A southern Lebanese source offered a contrasting view, saying ground operations show a gradual path toward drawing new areas into the targeting circle. The source told al-Sharq al-Awsat that what is being witnessed amounts to gradual expansion of Israeli operational scope. Areas previously outside the circle of operations are beginning to enter it, with new zones being targeted at their edges and strike range widening. With strikes now reaching Tuffah region and Arbasilyine, the light has moved closer to green for expanded Israeli operations in these areas.
The source added that this progression reflects a gradual shift in the operational field, not an abrupt change, and what is occurring in Tuffah region signals this trajectory.
Around 6 a.m., Israeli warplanes struck Ali al-Taher heights on two passes near the eastern edges of Nabatiye al-Fawqa, firing a number of concussive missiles that produced large explosions with sound reverberating across the region and thick smoke rising. That evening, the area between Zoutar al-Sharqiye and Meifdon was struck, followed by renewed artillery fire on the edges of both towns at dawn.
In the western sector, Israeli warplanes continued strikes at first light on al-Mansouri in Tyre district, targeting a number of buildings. Explosion sounds were heard in Tyre city and surrounding villages, with rocket fragmentation breaking windows in neighbouring areas. Al-Mansouri then came under artillery fire concurrent with sweeping operations using machine gun and heavy weapons fire in the zone between al-Mansouri commons and Majdal Zoun in Wadi Hassan southeast of Tyre, amid drone flights. Israeli vehicle movements were later recorded inside the town.
Ground movements occurred across multiple axes simultaneously. An Israeli force accompanied by tanks and military bulldozers penetrated the western edges of Mieh al-Jabal, specifically in the Dabbash area, concurrent with artillery strikes targeting a number of homes. Forces burned houses and razed agricultural tents during the incursion. A truck loaded with explosives was brought in to carry out a demolition operation in the Dabbash neighbourhood. In the central sector, Israeli forces conducted broad sweeping operations toward the edges of Haraysh from the Hadatha direction, with fire reaching homes in the area.
Ground movements extended to the eastern sector, where two Israeli Merkava tanks accompanied by military vehicles penetrated the eastern edges of Kafrshouba, specifically in the al-Shammis area. Israeli forces raised their flag in the region during the incursion, concurrent with intensive sweeping operations using machine gun fire in its surroundings.
Israeli operations over the course of hours spread across Ali al-Taher and Tuffah region, Nabatiye al-Fawqa and Arbasilyine in the north; Mieh al-Jabal and Haraysh along the central axis; al-Mansouri and Majdal Zoun in the west; and Kafrshouba in the east, in a field picture that combined strikes, bombardment, incursions, demolitions and sweeping fire.
