BEIRUT, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Walid Nasser, a 50-year-old villager from Kfarchouba in southeastern Lebanon, searched through the rubble of his house, which had been targeted by Israeli airstrikes last week, but failed to find the title deed he was looking for.
"I spent more than seven years building this house, but it was gone in the blink of an eye," he said.
According to Nasser, the Israeli army had intensified its airstrikes in his village and neighboring areas in the past month.
"The relentless destruction of homes by the Israeli forces aims to sow fear in people's hearts and discourage them from rebuilding, prolonging their displacement," he said.
A Lebanese military source said that Israel has escalated its raids on homes across all Lebanese villages and towns along the border in the past month, and the destructive Israeli bombing has so far affected hundreds of homes along the border with Israel, as well as those situated five to seven kilometers north of the borderline.
"In more than 30 border towns and villages, the rate of house demolition ranged between 40 and 80 percent, mostly in the villages of Kafr Kila, Adaysseh, and Mays al-Jabal," said the source, who requires anonymity.
Qassem al-Qadri, the head of Kfarchouba, said Israeli attacks had "left about 35 percent of the population in the border region, or about 180,000 people, without homes, and the percentage is increasing daily."
Qassem Haidar, the head of Tayr Harfa village in southwestern Lebanon, said Israeli airstrikes had razed about 60 houses in the village, damaged more than 150 homes, and destroyed 90 percent of the village's home solar energy projects.
Hashem Haidar, the head of the Council for South Lebanon, estimated that about 700 to 1,000 houses were destroyed by Israeli bombing in southern Lebanon, with another 10,000 suffering damage.
Lebanese Labor Minister Mustafa Bayram told Xinhua this week that the government has recently decided to compensate those affected by the Israeli attacks, but the value of compensation is yet to be determined.
On March 23, Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said currently it was impossible to assess the cost of damage.
"Everyone knows the limited capabilities of the state, which is barely able to provide basic needs to support the displaced from the villages of the south," he said.
Tensions along the Lebanon-Israel border escalated on Oct. 8, 2023, following a barrage of rockets launched by the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah toward Israel in solidarity with Hamas' attack on Israel the day before. Israel then retaliated by firing heavy artillery toward southeastern Lebanon. ■
