Southern Lebanon residents describe hardships under Israeli military occupation

Lisa Desjardins:

As it intensifies its war in Gaza in the south, Israel also remains in a simmering conflict on its northern border with Lebanon. Under a ceasefire agreement, Israel was supposed to withdraw from the area in January.

But the military has recently expanded its presence, stating that the militant group Hezbollah was in violation of the terms and an active threat. Special correspondent Simona Foltyn brings us this report.

Simona Foltyn:

An Israeli flag firmly planted on Lebanese soil. This military base in Houla is one of several new posts the IDF has set up in Lebanon in recent months. A roadblock erected by the Lebanese army is as far as we can go. Next to it, the burned hulk of a car hit by Israeli fire serves as a warning.

Hussain Kteish, Resident of Houla: You see that machine gun they put up on the base? If we get close to those barrels, they shoot immediately.

Simona Foltyn:

Hassan Katesh, a former member of Houla's municipal council, used to live just past the roadblock. His house is nothing more than a pile of rubble.

Hussain Kteish:

That's my house over there. You see that column? That tree just 20 meters from here? My house went in an air raid, but the rest of this neighborhood was booby trapped and detonated on a single day.

Simona Foltyn:

The IDF base in Hula is located around 500 yards inside Lebanon's territory. It has cut off the main road tracing the border. More than 50 family homes used to be in that area, including Hussain's razed to the ground as part of what Amnesty International has called a deliberate destruction of civilian property.

In the abandoned village center, Ali Hussain, the newly elected mayor, told me that a third of Houla's agriculture land remains inaccessible.

Ali Hussain, Mayor of Houla of Houla: Farmers can't live away from their land. They depend on it to survive. They must return to Kotai.

Simona Foltyn:

The mayor says that the IDF has killed five civilians as they try to return to their land.

Ali Hussain:

They don't want to see anyone here. They want this to become a buffer zone without any life. If they target one person, of course the others won't try to come back.

Simona Foltyn:

The IDF was supposed to completely withdraw from Lebanon in January. But in March, Israel's Defense Minister said it would indefinitely keep five strategic outposts inside Lebanese territory.

Some of these posts, like here in Labune, have been built right next to UN peacekeepers who, just like the Lebanese army, have been unable to stop Israel's ongoing occupation. The IDF has built its bases on high vantage points, seizing hilltops that overlooked Israeli settlements and could be used to launch attacks. We drove along the border to see the impact of Israel's military action.

The first thing you notice, of course, is the utter level of destruction here. There's barely a house standing. It's also very difficult to get from village to village because of the new Israeli outposts that have been erected here. We're having to take detours. Some of the roads have been blocked off because they're simply too dangerous.

We find village after village reduced to ghost towns. These are the Ruins of Kardala (ph) in the distance, on the hill behind it, we can see another IDF base. Located almost a mile inside Lebanese territory, this is the deepest IDF post. It overlooks the plains of Khiam from where Hezbollah used to launch rockets into Israel.

Hezbollah has ceased its attacks on Israeli settlements seen here across the wall. But the IDF has shown no signs of leaving, making its withdrawal conditional on the group's complete disarmament. Meanwhile, Israel has committed near daily ceasefire violations.

Ali Faqih is a construction worker whose bulldozer was taken out by an Israeli drone earlier this month. The drone seems to have dropped explosives or fired a small projectile, setting fire to the engine. Ali believes the goal was to intimidate villagers who tried to rebuild.

Ali Faqih:

We are working on our homes that got damaged during the war. If they the idf, think these strikes will make us le, they are wrong. This is our land and we will die here.

Simona Foltyn:

After the attack, another drone dropped flyers onto the area.

It says that the bulldozer was in fact rehabilitating a military installation belonging to Hezbollah. You can see the image of the bulldozer right here. And it goes on to warn villagers here to distance themselves from the group.

Support for Hezbollah runs deep in Lebanon's south. People here call it the resistance, seeing it as Lebanon's primary bulwark against Israel. But Ali says neither he nor his client have any connections to the group.

Ali Faqih:

They don't want anyone to do construction work here. They want the area to be empty so they can do whatever they want.

Simona Foltyn:

Hezbollah has handed over hundreds of its military facilities to the Lebanese army, which is supposed to fill the security vacuum. But it lacks the equipment, capabilities and political backing to protect Lebanon's sovereignty against the much more powerful IDF.

In Ayta ash Shab, a Hezbollah stronghold right on the border, people have little confidence that the Lebanese army can protect them.

Man:

God help the Lebanese army. They are standing by the bulldozer to protect it from Israeli drones. What kind of army is that? Let's be honest, they don't protect us.

Simona Foltyn:

Villagers say the IDF destroyed a Lebanese army outpost that used to overlook Ayta ash Shab and still uses it to stage operations.

Man:

The Israeli forces come at night on the outskirts of the village. Not long ago, they blew up a few houses in the village.

Simona Foltyn:

In the cemetery where many Hezbollah fighters lay buried, I met Aziza Srour, who came to visit her brother's grave. She's unable to return home to Houla because an IDF post now stands on the rubble of her house. For her, the reason is clear.

Aziza Srour, Resident of Houla: Israel's goal is to expand. They want to create Greater Israel.

Simona Foltyn:

Hezbollah has rejected U.S. led calls for its disarmament as long as Israel occupies Lebanese land. For PBS News Weekend, I'm Simona Foltyn at Lebanon's border with Israel.

Lisa Desjardins:

We reached out to the Israeli military about our report. They told us they operate carefully, in accordance with international law, and said their actions in southern Lebanon are defensive in nature, meant to neutralize immediate threats to Israel's security. They added that any claim that Israel intends to occupy Lebanon is baseless and they strongly condemn it.

Still to come on PBS News Weekend, we explore a new tool being used in the fight against suicide, comedy and a colorful legacy, the archive of British rock star David Bowie.