LEBANON – BBC analysis has uncovered the extent of damage caused by nine months of fighting between the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah and Israel. Satellite photos, radar imagery and records of military activity show that entire communities have been displaced, with thousands of buildings and large swathes of open land damaged on the border between Israel and Lebanon. Both sides have so far stopped short of all-out war, but evidence shows that near daily attacks have left communities in both Israel and Lebanon devastated.

The current fighting began when Hezbollah fired rockets at Israeli positions, which the group said was in solidarity with the Palestinians, a day after the outbreak of the Israel-Gaza war. Israel’s military offensive on Gaza was triggered by Hamas’s unprecedented attack on Israel on 7 October 2023. Data gathered by the US-based Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project Acled and analysed by the BBC suggest both sides together carried out a combined 7,491 cross-border attacks between 8 October 2023 and 5 July 2024. These figures indicated that Israel has carried out around five times as many as Hezbollah. The UN says the attacks have forced more than 90,000 people in Lebanon from their homes, with around 100 civilians and 366 Hezbollah fighters killed in Israeli strikes.

In Israel, officials say 60,000 civilians have had to abandon their homes and 33 people have been killed, including 10 civilians, because of attacks by Hezbollah. Analysis reveals more than 60% of the border communities in Lebanon have suffered some kind of damage as a result of Israeli air and artillery strikes. As of 10 July, more than 3,200 buildings may have suffered damage.The findings were put together by Corey Scher of City University of New York Graduate Center. They are based on comparisons of two separate images, revealing changes in the height or structure of buildings which suggests damage.

The towns of Aita el Shaab, Kfar Kila and Blida appear to have been among the worst affected. The BBC spoke to the mayor of Aita el Shaab, who described the town “as if it was hit by an earthquake Majed Tehini said 17 people from the town have been killed in the Israeli strikes, including two civilians He left Aita el Shaab with his family immediately after the hostilities started in October last year, but he said he returned almost every fortnight, mainly to attend funerals. Every time I visit, I feel it has changed. The sight of the destruction is just terrible,” he told the BBC.

The houses of Aita have become mere structures. The destroyed ones have been reduced to rubble. Those still standing are uninhabitable”, he added. Mr Tehini recalled seeing the town destroyed in the past, mainly in the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, but he says the bombs have caused much bigger destruction this time. He explained that all the infrastructure has been damaged, including the electrical grid and the water supply system.   (BBC) …[+]