Southern Lebanon’s towns, once vibrant and bustling, now bear the scars of relentless Israeli airstrikes. On December 18, 2025, the landscape along the Lebanese-Israeli border is a tableau of devastation, with the town of Aita al Chaab standing as a stark symbol of the destruction. Once home to around 14,000 people, Aita al Chaab is now largely unrecognizable, its buildings shattered and its streets emptied of most residents. According to Sky News, those who attempt to return and rebuild are often targeted again. As one resident put it, “Anyone who comes to rebuild is attacked [by Israel].”
The violence has left a heavy toll. Lebanese government figures report that more than 300 people, many of them civilians, have been killed by Israeli strikes during a truce that began in November 2024. Among the victims was Hassan, a 26-year-old man killed by an Israeli drone strike on the very day his father reopened a coffee shop in Aita al Chaab. “They don’t let us rebuild. They don’t want us to come back,” his father, Nehmeh Mahmoud al-Zein, told Sky News with palpable anger. “I started a coffee shop and on the very first day we opened, the Israelis killed my son with a drone, right outside my coffee shop! In front of my eyes!”
Tragedy has touched countless families along the border. In Beirut, 12-year-old Aseel sits motionless in a hospital chair, her face scarred by shrapnel, her right eye blinded, her left with only partial sight. She and her mother, Amina, are the sole survivors of a drone strike near Bint Jbeil that killed Aseel’s father and three younger siblings. The family had paused briefly to talk to a motorbike rider when the attack occurred. “That’s it,” Aseel said simply. “I lost everything.” Her mother, Amina, recounted the horror in her first interview since leaving hospital, describing how she survived only to care for Aseel: “Why did I have to see this? Why? I can’t get these images out of my head. I live only for Aseel. But I want justice. I want those who killed them to stand trial. It is my family’s right.” According to Sky News, the Israeli military admitted the strike on Amina’s car killed “several uninvolved civilians” and expressed regret.
Despite the ceasefire, the violence has not abated. The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), deployed since 1978 to monitor the border, has documented more than 10,000 ceasefire violations since November 2024, with the majority attributed to Israel. UN peacekeepers, who patrol the so-called “Blue Line” demarcation area, have reported no evidence of Hezbollah rearming or operating south of the Litani River. A major from the UN contingent told Sky News, “I think most of the Hezbollah has retreated north of the Litani. We just haven’t seen any evidence on the ground that there is that much activity anymore, going on.” Diodato Abagnara, the UN’s overall commander in south Lebanon, echoed this, stating to Israel’s Channel 12 that he had seen “no evidence” of Hezbollah rebuilding its presence south of the Litani and condemned Israel’s “blatant” ceasefire violations.
UNIFIL’s own spokesperson, Candice Ardell, told NPR that “we have not seen any evidence of Hezbollah rebuilding military infrastructure in the south. We’re continuing to patrol, to monitor and report the violations that we see, but we have not seen the rebuilding of infrastructure.” Irish battalion commander Lieutenant Colonel Ed McDonagh, whose sector includes 14 Lebanese border villages, stated, “I see no presence of Hezbollah operatives operating within this area. The Hezbollah flags – they’re still flying. But certainly from what we can see operationally, there’s very little to nil Hezbollah activity taking place.”
Yet Israel maintains its strikes are in self-defense, claiming—without providing evidence—that Hezbollah is attempting to rebuild its military infrastructure. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) justify their actions as necessary to counter what they describe as a continuing threat from Hezbollah, which is designated a terrorist organization by several Western governments. However, the ongoing airstrikes and incursions have raised tensions not only with local residents but also with the UN peacekeepers themselves. The UN has reported increasing complaints about attacks on or near its forces, with a notable incident occurring on December 9, 2025. The IDF stated it was firing warning shots at an approaching subject, while on another occasion it attributed firing near UN forces to poor visibility due to adverse weather. The UN, for its part, insists it provides the IDF with advance notice of patrol locations and timings.
Adding to the volatility, Israel has constructed a controversial wall along the Blue Line, with UN monitors noting that in two areas the wall encroaches about 4,000 square meters into Lebanese territory. This has cut off residents from their farmland, further fueling resentment. In Kfar Chouba, residents showed Sky News videos of Israeli troops bulldozing homes, laying mines, and destroying farms—despite the truce, which was supposed to see the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanese territory. The oldest resident of Kfar Chouba, Zahia Kassab, summed up the frustration: “We’ve built our house three times. We build. Israel destroys. We build. Israel destroys. I don’t like them. They should go away from here.”
Meanwhile, the future of UNIFIL hangs in the balance. On December 17, 2025, the United States and Israel pushed through a Security Council resolution ending UNIFIL’s mandate, despite persistent border tensions and ongoing violence. As reported by NPR, the mission is set to wind down in 2026, with a one-year withdrawal period to follow. The U.S. has suggested that the Lebanese Army should assume responsibility for border security after UNIFIL’s departure, but many observers fear the area’s volatility could spark further conflict.
Spain, which contributes troops to UNIFIL, has pledged to continue supporting peace efforts in Lebanon. On December 17, Spanish official Margarita Robles assured her Lebanese counterpart that Spain would remain committed to peace, even as the mission faces the prospect of withdrawal, according to The Diplomat in Spain.
Hezbollah, for its part, shows no sign of backing down. Dr. Rima Fakhry, the only woman on Hezbollah’s political council, declared recently that the group would never disarm. “Israel was bombing us before the existence of Hezbollah,” she told Sky News. “We don’t believe the Israelis are honest in what they are saying. Our experience with the Israelis proves they’re manipulators. If we’re unarmed, they’ll just attack Lebanon. We really believe the Israelis’ decision is in the hands of the Americans. If the Americans forced Netanyahu and Israel to stop the war and the aggression today, they’d stop it.”
As UNIFIL’s mission nears its end and border tensions simmer, Lebanon’s southern communities remain caught in the crossfire—struggling to rebuild, to mourn, and to hope for a peace that has so far proved elusive.
