Despite a ceasefire, Israel has demolished villages in southern Lebanon

Despite a ceasefire, Israel has demolished villages in southern Lebanon

toggle caption Diego Ibarra Sánchez for NPR

HULA, Lebanon — Israel's war with the militant group Hezbollah officially ended with a ceasefire last November. But Israel has continued since then to demolish hundreds of homes and critical civilian infrastructure in what residents see as an effort to not just prevent their return but erase their history.

In the village of Hula in southern Lebanon, a monument engraved with the names of almost 100 Lebanese killed here in 1948 just after the creation of the state of Israel lies covered in graffiti and smashed to pieces. While Lebanon is made up of a variety of religious groups, the majority in the south is Shia Muslim.

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The black spray paint scrawled next to a Star of David bears the message in Hebrew "the only good Shia is a dead Shia."

Retired school teacher Abdul Aziz Chreim doesn't know what the Hebrew writing says, but says he knows the aim.

"The Israelis took over this entire village after the ceasefire and they wanted to make the point that 'we are here,' " he says. "They wanted vengeance."

The Israeli military, in response to an NPR query about the destruction, said it had reviewed the desecration of the monument and reinforced unspecified procedures to prevent similar occurrences in the future.

The graves included civilians killed in what became known as the Hula massacre, with two Israeli army officers tried in Israel for war crimes.

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