Inside Israeli-Occupied Southern Lebanon: Rare Access Reveals Devastation
The BBC was granted rare access to the Israeli-occupied region of southern Lebanon, travelling with a humanitarian convoy from the Order of Malta delivering aid to isolated Christian villages. The mission occurred on Thursday, one day before a new ceasefire between Israel and the Shia Muslim armed group Hezbollah was announced.
During the journey, the BBC team observed an Israeli military presence but was restricted from filming significant portions of the route. Israel has stated it has no plans to withdraw its troops from Lebanon, aiming instead to establish a security zone along the border free of Hezbollah to protect its northern communities from rocket and drone attacks.
In the occupied areas, predominantly Shia villages have been completely destroyed by Israeli air strikes or demolitions. Human rights organizations have raised concerns that some actions may constitute the deliberate destruction of civilian infrastructure, potentially amounting to war crimes.
The report was filed by BBC Middle East correspondent Hugo Bachega and video journalist Neha Sharma, with additional reporting by Samantha Granville and Angie Mrad.
