Israel shells south Lebanon towns, builds roads connecting military outposts

Israeli forces carried out a large explosion in the town of Baraachit, in south Lebanon’s Bint Jbeil district, on Saturday evening, Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) reported. Israeli artillery also shelled Beit Yahoun, in the same district, and the area between the towns of Zawtar al-Sharqiya and Maifadoun. An Israeli air strike hit the town of Mansouri, while Israeli warplanes flew low over the city of Tyre and its surroundings, staging mock raids. Alongside ongoing demolitions, the Israeli army has been building several roads through mountains and valleys in the western and central parts of south Lebanon, connecting the military outposts it set up after occupying the area, according to NNA. Israel sharply escalated its military operations in Lebanon this year, launching a ground invasion and occupying large parts of the country’s south and east. Since the US and Israel launched their joint war on Iran in February, prompting Lebanon’s Hezbollah to attack Israel in support of Iran, Israel has killed more than 4,300 people in Lebanon and displaced one million. Smoke rises from a site targeted by an Israeli air strike in the village of Kfar Tibnit, in south Lebanon’s Nabatieh district, 31 October 2026 (AFP)