A drive along the Mediterranean highway in southern Lebanon, near the Israeli border, reveals a desolate landscape of abandoned crops and buildings destroyed by Israeli air strikes, the BBC reports. Near Naqoura, a Lebanese military checkpoint marks the last visible sign of state authority; a few minutes further south, Israeli flags indicate the start of occupied territory that requires Israeli authorisation to enter.
The region is the heartland of Lebanon's Shia Muslim community, which provides most of the support for Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militia and political party. The Israeli military has launched three invasions of this area in wars against Hezbollah over the past two decades. The most recent incursion began in March, following Hezbollah rocket fire after the killing of Iran's supreme leader at the start of the US and Israel's war against Iran.
Last month, a BBC journalist joined a humanitarian mission by the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon (Unifil), which provides one of the only ways to visit areas under Israeli control. The convoy, led by Finnish troops from Unifil, was escorting civilians to and from Christian villages near the border that had been spared from the worst destruction.
According to the BBC report, Israel has flattened entire villages in southern Lebanon, as it did in Gaza, and air strikes and demolitions have continued even after a ceasefire was announced in June. Officials have said Israel is expanding its positions in the area.