Israeli flags planted along a main road inside southern Lebanon have fuelled anger and renewed questions over whether Israel's expanding military presence is becoming an open-ended occupation, as its forces intensify bombardments, demolitions and earthworks across the south.
The flags were seen flying along the Naqoura-Tyre coastal road, one of southern Lebanon's main arteries and a route regularly used by UN peacekeepers.
Footage published by Israeli Channel 12 journalist Amit Segal appeared to have been filmed from an Israeli military vehicle, while Segal said the video had been sent to him by Israeli soldiers.
UNIFIL confirmed that its peacekeepers had observed several Israeli flags on Lebanese territory, including along the coastal road and in the village of Naqoura, and said their presence constituted a violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701.
The images have taken on added significance as Israel entrenches itself across parts of southern Lebanon, where it established an alleged "security zone" after invading a swathe of the country during its latest war on Lebanon.
Israel claims the zone is necessary to protect its northern communities from Hezbollah. But the raising of Israeli flags on Lebanese soil, alongside continuing military construction, demolitions and Israeli declarations that its troops will remain until Hezbollah is disarmed, has heightened concerns that what Israel may claim to be a temporary security arrangement is taking on the characteristics of a prolonged occupation.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said last week that Israeli forces would not withdraw from southern Lebanon until Hezbollah had been disarmed. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has presented the buffer zone as one of Israel's military achievements.
Israel's military rejected suggestions that its presence was directed against Lebanon itself.
"Israel is not acting against the Lebanese state or its citizens," the military said, maintaining that its forces were operating in southern Lebanon to remove threats posed by Hezbollah.
That claim has increasingly been challenged by developments on the ground, where Israeli operations have struck civilian areas and infrastructure.
Israeli forces dynamite water reservoir
On Tuesday, Israeli forces dynamited a water reservoir on municipal land in Mansouri, in the Tyre district, which supplied the village with water, according to L'Orient-Le Jour's correspondent in southern Lebanon.
Israeli artillery repeatedly shelled Mansouri at around 11 am, before targeting the outskirts of Mayfadoun and Zawtar al-Sharqiyah in the Nabatieh district.
Israeli bulldozers were also carrying out earthworks on Mansouri's municipal lands, while Israeli soldiers opened machine-gun fire towards Haddatha in the Bint Jbeil district. At least one building was dynamited on the outskirts of Shebaa, near Birket al-Naqqar.
Earlier on Tuesday, witnesses reported seeing an Israeli bulldozer clearing land near Birket al-Naqqar, while two Merkava tanks took up positions in the area.
The attacks on Mansouri began before dawn and continued through the morning.
Two three-storey buildings were destroyed in an early-morning attack on the village, while shortly before 9 am Israeli shelling was continuing and a Merkava tank was firing towards the centre of the village. Machine-gun fire also swept through the area, witnesses said.
Residents reported hearing tanks advancing towards state-owned land in Mansouri and seeing a house on fire.
Between 2 am and 4 am, Israeli aircraft also bombed the outskirts of Deir Siriane and residential areas of Mansouri, while artillery struck Dohat Kfar Remmane and the Ali Taher hills in Nabatieh.
At least 10 towns and villages were bombarded by Israel on Monday alone, while significant demolition operations targeted homes and infrastructure in four southern Lebanese localities.
UN records 137 Israeli projectiles a day
The latest operations a significant increase in Israeli military activity in southern Lebanon.
UNIFIL said it recorded an average of 137 projectiles a day between 5 and 16 August, including 208 on Saturday and 185 on Sunday.
The UN force said civilians were once again bearing the brunt of the escalation, with families forced to leave their homes or change their daily lives because of insecurity and uncertainty.
Peacekeepers have continued patrols, monitoring developments, clearing roads, reducing explosive hazards and facilitating humanitarian access, the force said.
UNIFIL reiterated that Resolution 1701 remained the central framework for restoring stability and called for renewed adherence to its provisions.
A US-brokered arrangement envisages a progressive Israeli withdrawal linked to the verified disarmament of Hezbollah. Hezbollah, however, has rejected discussions over its weapons before Israeli forces withdraw from Lebanese territory.
Since Israel launched its war on Lebanon in March, almost 4,400 people have been killed and over 12,300 injuried.