The threat comes as the Israeli offensive on Lebanon expands, leading to greater fear, displacement and deadly attacks.
Israeli forces have threatened to destroy more bridges in southern Lebanon in what observers say is an attempt to cut off the region from the rest of the country as Israeli forces press ahead with a devastating ground offensive.
In a social media post on Friday, Israeli army spokesman Avichai Adrai said the army planned to bomb the Sohmor and Mashghara bridges over the Litani River in the western Bekaa Valley, claiming they were being used by the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.
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“These are the two main bridges – for goods, for people, the main route for movement – between the rest of Lebanon and western Bekaa,” Al Jazeera’s Obaida Hitto reported from Tyre, southern Lebanon.
“If these bridges are destroyed, it will essentially isolate the Western Bekaa from the rest of Lebanon. This will make it extremely difficult for people trying to cross into the Western Bekaa Valley and reach the main center of Chattoura to access hospitals and other public services.”
Hitto said Israel has destroyed at least six other bridges over the Litani River since the start of its intensified air and ground offensive in Lebanon in early March.
The bombing of bridges and other civilian infrastructure in southern Lebanon has been widely condemned. Rights groups have warned that Israel appears to be trying to isolate the region.
The deep ground attack launched by the Israeli military last week has also caused widespread concern as Israeli leaders have said they plan to demolish several residential houses.
Hitto said, “As Israeli troops try to extend their control over these towns and villages in the south of the country, … they could actually separate southern Lebanon from Western Bekaa and Western Bekaa from the rest of Lebanon.”
Earlier on Friday, the South Lebanon Water Establishment said Israeli attacks had damaged key water infrastructure in southern Lebanon.
In a statement shared by the country’s national news agency (NNA), the civil water authority said that facilities in Ibal al-Saqi and al-Mesat suffered significant damage, while solar power systems at other stations in the area were also affected.
“The targeting of vital facilities, particularly water facilities, is a clear and unambiguous violation of all international conventions and norms that require the neutrality of institutions and facilities providing basic services to civilians by acts of war,” the authority said.
NNA also reported that at least four people were killed across the country in Israeli strikes on Friday, including an attack targeting worshipers leaving a mosque in the western Bekaa city of Sahmar, which killed two people.
The Israeli bombardment of Lebanon, which began on March 2 after Hezbollah fired missiles at northern Israel in response to the United States-Israeli war over Iran, has forced more than 1.2 million people to flee their homes.
Israel’s attacks have killed at least 1,345 people and injured more than 4,000 across the country, according to the latest figures from Lebanon’s public health ministry.
At least three UN peacekeepers were also killed in southern Lebanon this week as violence escalated amid Israel’s deepening offensive.
A spokesman for the UN peacekeeping force, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), said on Friday that three peacekeepers were injured – two of them seriously – by an explosion at a UN position near al-Adaisa, a village near the Israel-Lebanon border.
“At this time they are all being taken to the hospital. We do not yet know the origin of the explosion,” Candice Ardill said in a statement shared on Telegram.
“UNIFIL reminds all actors of their obligations to ensure the safety of peacekeepers, including avoiding nearby combat activities that could endanger them.”
