South Lebanon resilience — “We will not leave our homes!”

South Lebanon — The road to al-Mansouri, a village cut in half by Israel’s yellow line, tells its own story. We pass through an endless exhibition of risk-free actions by the so-called occupiers. Burnt out vehicles from hits by drones. Homes and infrastructure destroyed by those guided bombs from fighter jets. But the road also tells a different story.

Resistance flags are defiantly planted in the rubble of each and every demolished building. Portraits of martyrs proudly adorn the lamp posts. The countryside is reminiscent of all my journeys to south Lebanon. Rolling hills connected by endlessly twisting carriageways through villages and farmland, orchards and rocky crags. A potential nightmare for unwelcome colonisers to navigate. Perfect for ambush and guerrilla warfare should the locals feel inclined to resist.

So it comes as little surprise that when we reach the yellow line, that the IOF are nowhere to be seen. Instead, a Lebanese army vehicle blocks the road across the invisible barrier and its operators nonchalantly smoke cigarettes under an umbrella nearby. They politely explain that they are mandated to turn people away from Israel’s self-declared territory and then proceed to check my details as light relief for their clear boredom.

The reality is that the IOF are only occupying most of their captured territory in the sky. Which honestly, anyone with an airforce can control in a country with no airforce or air-defence systems. On the ground their forces are stationed on hilltops like the endlessly reported Beaufort Castle, where they surround their bases with the latest military surveillance technology and their bodies with improvised netting erected to protect from Hezbollah’s low-tech FPV drones.

South Lebanon — An occupation in name only

It is an “occupation” with very few soldiers and vehicles operating on the ground outside of the immediate border areas. The sectors inside the yellow line are a free-fire zone where the IOF have licensed themselves to kill anything that moves from the sky — while avoiding the risks of operating on the ground below. Trademark cowardice from a colonial force with a long history of humiliating defeats on this land.

Meanwhile, the withdrawal of the IOF from these areas — as laid out in the detested framework agreement — is fast being exposed as a poorly concealed sham to protect the reputations of the Israelis and the tiny minority of local politicians that support it.

Claims were made that the Israelis would withdraw from ‘pilot zones’, handing control to the Lebanese army. One such project was exposed as a lie before the process had even begun. The village of Froun was touted as one of two areas that would see this measure put into action.

Where are they?

To the extreme embarrassment of the parties involved, reporters from RT entered the village in late June to find that this supposedly ‘occupied’ area had no Israeli presence at all. The people were repairing their damaged and destroyed homes and the local mayor was organising the clean-up operation. The IOF were miles away and al-Jazeera has since confirmed that the pilot project has now been hastily moved further back towards the border.

Adding to the already complex issues surrounding the so-called peace plan are the very frosty relations between the Lebanese army and the IOF, who are supposed to be implementing this process in partnership. The Lebanese army flatly refused to attend a media call with the IOF during recent peace talks in Rome saying: “The blood of our brothers is still not dry”. They were referring to an earlier incident when a Lebanese Army General and his companions were slaughtered in an IOF attack that has yet to be ‘explained’.

Grenade diplomacy

After the reluctant guardians of Israel’s invisible barrier in al-Mansouri had checked and confirmed my credentials, we headed back into the village joined by a drone overhead.

Further down the hill ,we encountered local woman Zahra Mansoura. She had recently returned and was renting a room next to the rubble of her former home. She was not lost for words on the present situation:

I returned here to destruction, to Lebanon in all its beauty, this land full of sorrow. As soon as the road re-opened, I returned. What did I see? There is no truce, no pause in the war from the Israelis. The truce was for our side only, not for them. All the time they drop their sound-bombs to keep us in an endless state of fear.

Zahra was referring to stun grenades which the Israelis randomly drop from their quadcopter drones on areas like this in south Lebanon — where the locals have defied the destruction to come home and rebuild. The deafening bangs produced by the devices, often late at night, are a form of harassment aimed at defiant villagers. She continued:

They are not targeting the resistance, they are targeting the people. They spray us with bullets, they set fire to the fields. They want to occupy this land south and beyond the Litani river. That is their prize. Much more than defeating the resistance. There is no ceasefire, no pause in this war.

She went on to describe the effect on her health but was interrupted by a loud explosion as a grenade dropped from above detonated a few feet away from us. Her mood changed:

It hit us! This is our life, this is how we live under the Lebanese government’s ‘ceasefire’. They sold us out long ago. This deal made under the table and behind our backs. They are America’s servants that work for the Israelis, not the people of the south.

But what they destroy we will rebuild. For every resistance fighter lost, ten will step forward. The Israelis believe they can defeat us with their crimes. But each crime turns a child into a fighter. We do not need to raise our children to become the resistance. The Israelis teach them with their actions. Hezbollah was born in the homes of the people as a response to Israeli crimes on our land. The Israelis sent their children to fight here with tears in their eyes. We send ours to fight with pride.

An occupation of poverty

We were interrupted again. This time by the roar of a motorcycle engine as we were joined by Zahra’s relative Ali. He was in his early twenties and studying management at university. He also works as a personal trainer.

Ali spoke perfect English and readily agreed to speak to me about the situation. As we were moving to a quieter spot behind the house another grenade exploded behind us. Closer this time.

It seemed that our stalkers in the air above objected to the presence of the media in this place and were singling us out for their attention. While this harassment was certainly intimidating — and technically speaking, an infringement of the ceasefire — it should be viewed in a wider context.

Such petty acts do not begin to compare to the murderous attacks endured by Lebanese journalists covering this war over the past thirty-three months. Also, while this was happening to us, kindergarten principal Esperanza Ghandour was travelling back from her damaged home — fifty kilometres away in Nabatieh — with her mother, assistant and driver. All four of them were killed by a drone strike on their vehicle for no apparent reason. Serious ceasefire violations like this continue without consequences for the Israelis.

The Israelis will eventually withdraw from south Lebanon, humiliated

Ali explained that his house was destroyed within enemy territory. He gave me a lift on the back of his bike to a nearby ridge where we could see Israeli and UNIFIL positions on the hilltops above. His occupied home lying just out of sight in the valley beyond. He calmly explained that he had no doubt that the Israelis would eventually withdraw, humiliated as they had done so many times before.

After coffee with Zahra and Ali, we went deeper into the village where thick black smoke billowed up from a location near to the partially destroyed mosque. Men were tearing down a damaged building, stripping items of value — like pipes and porcelain — and stacking them in the street. The fire was from plastic being burned off copper wiring, which would be sold for its weight once stripped.

This was not a wealthy area. The people here had been without income for three months of war were now doing whatever they could to put food on the table.

South Lebanon — Families return to destruction

We were invited into a badly damaged residential block by the Taki family who had spotted us photographing the scene outside. Ibrahim was a father of five and would usually be making his living as a delivery driver. He showed us around his partially destroyed home, while his adorable kids competed for our attention.

He explained the hardships they were facing without electricity, water and internet. How his work had dried up but some generous neighbours had given them basic supplies when they had returned. I asked what it was like living a few hundred yards from an area controlled by the Israelis. He said:

This soil is dripping with the blood of our martyrs. They gave their lives here, others are injured. May God give them eternal life. May God protect the people and the resistance. May we all be one hand working together so the Israelis will return to their land and we can take care of ourselves.

He shared his hopes for the future, explaining his belief that technology should allow everyone to live a decent life in peace with each other. Peace also in Palestine and the entire region. That the next generations should have the innovation and security to live decent lives.

Layla’s testimony

At this point, his elderly mother Layla showed up to invite us into her flat and hear what she had to say:

My house was destroyed for the second time. All the furniture, I had to throw it away. But we have the most beautiful town and the people here took care of us. We would never be allowed to starve. May God grant them all a thousand blessings.

The houses are not so important. They could take them all, if the people could be spared. Homes can come back, but not the people, not the martyred souls. There are still so many martyrs under the rubble. So many innocents killed. Thank God my children are safe but four of my sister’s children are martyrs. I could not go to their funerals. I would just have a mental breakdown if I did. Imagine losing four children?

Thank God I am home now. I have lived in this town since I was thirteen years old. I am part of it and all my children were born here. I cannot live without this town. The best people in the world are here and al-Mansouri is in my soul.

She wanted to tell us one more thing before we left. Something I have heard numerous reports about before but hearing it first-hand still came as a shock.

Cruelty of cowards

All over the recently occupied parts of south Lebanon, people are told by the authorities to watch out for items that look in any way suspicious. Items that they don’t recognise. Especially items of value or children’s toys. Layla continued:

My son was cleaning up near a bombed house. Making an inventory and he was with his young son. They saw a stereo. It was in front of them, but God gave my son good sight, and he suspected it was a trap. They called the specialists (army) and they came and exploded it. It had a bomb underneath.

My son and grandson could have been dismembered but they were protected from above. Here in this area, it is filled with such explosive traps. May God bless the resistance and all our martyrs and bring them victory.

The appalling behaviour of the Israelis in the areas that they have occupied has been meticulously documented by their own social media accounts. Looting valuables, mocking people’s personal possessions, trying on women’s underwear and mindlessly vandalising their homes. But setting lethal boobytraps that are baited with items that would attract teenagers and children demonstrates an even lower level of sadistic depravity that absolutely beggars belief. Fuck Zionism.