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\t<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The entire road has been leveled. Homes and shops, including a popular caf\u00e9, were destroyed. Nearly two months after Israel resumed its ground offensive in southern Lebanon, this is all that remains of the town of Bint Jbeil, just a few miles from the Israeli border.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Bint Jbeil village in southern Lebanon.<\/span> Drone video from @amitseg via Telegram.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/figure>\n <\/p>\n The destruction of the town, a Hezbollah stronghold, is repeated across southern Lebanon, a lush region with rolling landscapes, where Israel has destroyed border villages in an effort to prepare the ground for a major occupation.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Israel’s Defense Minister, Israel Katz, said the approach was based on Army tactics used in Gaza, where Israeli forces had reduced entire neighborhoods, buildings and streets to rubble.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n War broke out again between Israel and Hezbollah in early March, when Hezbollah attacked Israel in solidarity with Iran. <\/strong>Israel has established a “buffer zone” several miles deep, which it says it will hold until the threat from Hezbollah is eliminated.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Analysis of satellite images as well as photos and videos shared online and verified by The New York Times shows the scope of that campaign. The large-scale destruction has destroyed expanses of at least two dozen towns and villages near the border, damaging government offices as well as civilian infrastructure including schools, hospitals and mosques.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Villages are now reduced to ashes, one town after another is being marked by the whiteness of the debris.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Source: Satellite imagery from Copernicus Sentinel.<\/span> the new York Times<\/span><\/p>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/section>\n <\/p>\n “I feel like I’m going to be overcome with anger and sadness,” said Nabil Sanbul, 67, who works at a bakery in the city of Bint Jbeil. He has now fled to Beirut with only a few belongings.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Satellite imagery showed that the area where Mr. Sanbul lives and works was severely damaged, although it was not clear whether his home was completely destroyed.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Nabil Sanboul, a displaced resident of Bint Jbeil, sits in his tent at a shelter in Beirut.<\/span> Daniel Berehulak\/The New York Times<\/span><\/p>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/figure>\n <\/p>\n Since the war began, Israeli strikes have killed more than 2,600 people in Lebanon, including journalists and medical workers, and destroyed infrastructure such as bridges and gas stations, according to Lebanon’s health ministry. More than one million people have been displaced. Fighting continues despite a US-brokered ceasefire, which has now been extended until mid-May.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Israeli military says it is targeting Hezbollah infrastructure and bases. The Iran-backed group has launched hundreds of drones, rockets and anti-tank missiles at Israel and killed at least 17 Israeli soldiers since the beginning of March, according to the Israeli military.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Legal experts and human rights activists say that targeting or destroying civilian infrastructure without legitimate military justification is a war crime. They also expressed concern over statements by Israeli officials that they would model the destruction in southern Lebanon on Gaza, given the scale of devastation and loss of life in the Strip.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “The deliberate and massive destruction of civilian objects or property, without any military justification for the destruction, is a war crime,” said Ramzi Qais, Lebanon researcher for Human Rights Watch.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Israeli military said its troops were acting “in accordance with international law”, and that its instructions allow it to demolish structures used for Hezbollah’s military purposes or when deemed operationally necessary.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A video circulated on social media and verified by the Times shows an excavator destroying solar panels near the village of Deble in late April. According to Lebanon’s state news agency, solar panels supplied electricity to the city and powered the water station.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n An excavator is dismantling solar panels near Debel in southern Lebanon.<\/span> associated Press<\/span><\/p>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/figure>\n <\/p>\n The Israeli military said in a statement to The Times that such actions were not in line with the standards it expected of its soldiers. “After investigation of the incident, command action was taken against the reserve soldiers involved,” the statement said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In southern Lebanon, several cities were already destroyed during the Israel\u2013Hezbollah war in 2024. More than 10,000 structures, including homes, mosques, and parks, were damaged or destroyed in at least 26 municipalities. According to Amnesty International<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The destruction now appears much more widespread, with satellite imagery showing fresh debris spread across wide swathes of land.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Source: Satellite imagery from Copernicus Sentinel.<\/span> the new York Times<\/span><\/p>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/section>\n <\/p>\n “Our house was the fruit of our life’s work,” said Fatima Abdallah, a 46-year-old mother of five from the town of Houla near the Israeli border, who is now living in a tent inside a stadium in the Lebanese capital Beirut. Satellite images show that her town has been heavily damaged, and her home, which she and her husband built two decades ago, appears to have been destroyed.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The video shows Israeli soldiers using the same methods of destruction they employed in Gaza, including the use of controlled demolitions, in which soldiers enter targeted structures to place explosives.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The soldiers then pull the trigger from a safe distance, said Barbara Marcolini, a visual investigator for Amnesty International who previously worked for The Times. Clouds of dust and debris fly skyward from the explosions. As a result, entire streets are now moonscapes of white debris and broken concrete, with not a trace left where homes or businesses once stood.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Israel says its operations are aimed at destroying Hezbollah’s military infrastructure, which it says are located in civilian areas. Hezbollah has long refused to hand over military assets to civilians.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Other videos and photos, including those taken from the Israeli side of the border, showed bulldozers and excavators carrying out demolitions in heavily damaged areas.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n