Field escalation in Lebanon: Hezbollah bombs Safed, Beirut condemns scorched-earth policy

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam affirmed that the Israeli occupation is pursuing a policy of comprehensive destruction targeting cities and towns in southern Lebanon, stressing that these practices aim to uproot national memory and erase the history of the population through mass displacement. Salam explained in press statements that Tel Aviv's scorched-earth policy will not bring it the desired security or stability.\n\nSalam pointed out that the Lebanese government is making every effort in the political track to achieve an immediate ceasefire and ensure the withdrawal of occupation forces and the return of displaced persons to their homes. He stressed Lebanon's categorical rejection of turning its lands into an arena for settling regional scores or a mailbox for messages from international powers, affirming that the state is currently leading negotiations on behalf of all Lebanese people.\n\nRegarding the negotiation track, the Lebanese Prime Minister considered that the ongoing negotiations are the least costly option at present, although they do not guarantee inevitable results and do not mean surrender. These political stances come amid an escalation in military operations on the Lebanese-Palestinian border and the expansion of mutual targeting between the two sides.\n\nOn the ground, medical and security sources reported the martyrdom of a Lebanese citizen and the injury of another as a result of an airstrike carried out by occupation aircraft on the town of Al-Loubieh in the Sidon district. The raids also targeted the towns of Al-Qleileh, Balat, and Machghara in the western Beqaa, causing widespread destruction to property and infrastructure in the targeted areas.\n\nIn a remarkable development, the Lebanese Army announced the injury of two of its members as a result of an Israeli drone targeting the Abba road in the Nabatieh district. This coincided with field reports of additional injuries in a similar raid that targeted the Qaaqaiyat al-Jisr area, raising the number of casualties among military personnel and civilians in recent hours.\n\nFor its part, Hezbollah carried out a wide military response targeting the occupied city of Safed with a rocket barrage, which is the first time the party's rockets have reached this city since last April. Media sources confirmed that the barrage targeted infrastructure belonging to the occupation army, as part of the response to the continuous aggressions against Lebanese villages.\n\nIsraeli media acknowledged detecting the launch of at least five rockets towards Safed, and air defense systems claimed to have intercepted one while the rest fell in different areas. This attack activated sirens in wide areas of the Upper Galilee, causing panic among settlers.\n\nHezbollah's response was not limited to Safed, but also included targeting the Shomera barracks using an attack drone that achieved a direct hit, according to a statement by the party. The party also announced targeting an Israeli military force that was stationed in a barracks in the border settlement of Liman, affirming the continuation of its operations as long as the aggression continues.\n\nField sources reported that sirens also sounded in Nahariya and its surroundings in the Western Galilee, in addition to the settlements of Misgav Am and Metula. This escalation came after detecting the launch of rockets and drones from Lebanese territory, where the occupation army claimed to have intercepted one drone and another exploded near the border.\n\nObservers believe that Hezbollah's shelling of Safed represents an attempt to impose a "cities for cities" equation in response to Israeli threats to shell the city of Tyre. This strategy aims to create a deterrent balance that prevents the occupation from going too far in targeting major urban centers deep inside Lebanon.\n\nAnalyzes indicate that the party's targeting of Israeli forces in the south comes as a direct response to the systematic demolition operations carried out by the occupation army in border villages. Through diversifying its targets between military sites and settlements, the party is trying to pressure the Israeli leadership to stop its ground advance.\n\nIn contrast, Israeli Security Minister Yisrael Katz insists that Tel Aviv will not submit to any equations imposed by Hezbollah, claiming that the era of implicit understandings has ended. However, the Israeli leadership faces sharp internal criticism due to what Hebrew media describes as succumbing to some rules of engagement imposed by the party on the ground.\n\nMilitary experts link Hezbollah's expansion of its operations deep inside Israel to the occupation's attempts to cross the Litani River. Ali Al-Sabaity, director of the Arab Center for Dialogue, considered that this escalation represents a "deterrence equation" aimed at curbing the momentum of the occupation army and preventing it from achieving additional ground gains in the southern arena.\n\nThe situation in southern Lebanon continues to worsen with the absence of any immediate prospect for a political solution, amid the insistence of each party on establishing new balances of power. The Lebanese front remains open to all possibilities with the continuation of intense airstrikes and missile responses that have begun to reach strategic cities in northern Israel.\n\nTel Aviv will not gain security or stability through the scorched-earth policy, and the Lebanese state will spare no effort to achieve a ceasefire.