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Lebanon's Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib toured southern villages devastated by Israeli attacks on Friday, declaring that the scale of destruction has strengthened his government's resolve to reclaim its territory and consolidate weapons under state control.
Speaking to reporters after conducting a helicopter survey of border communities with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), Foreign Minister Yusuf Recci said the damage reinforced Lebanon's determination to implement long-standing international resolutions.
"The extent of the devastation caused by Israeli attacks in the southern villages makes us more determined to liberate our lands and consolidate weapons in the hands of the state," Recci said during a visit to UNIFIL's headquarters in the southern town of Naqoura, where he met with Force Commander Diodato Abagnara.
The minister added that his observations strengthened his belief in "the necessity of supporting the Lebanese army in establishing state sovereignty and implementing UN Security Council Resolution 1701."
That resolution, adopted by the UN Security Council in 2006, ended fighting between Israel and Hezbollah and called for a permanent ceasefire and the establishment of a buffer zone.
The recent violence represents a sharp escalation in a conflict that began in October 2023, when Israel launched attacks on Lebanon. By September 2024, those strikes had evolved into a large-scale war that killed more than 4,000 people and wounded approximately 17,000.
Despite a ceasefire agreement reached between Hezbollah and Israel in November 2024, Israeli forces have violated the truce more than 4,500 times, resulting in hundreds of civilian casualties, according to reports.
Israel currently occupies five hilltops it captured during the recent war in Lebanon and maintains its presence in some areas it has held for decades.
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