Tensions mount on Lebanon-Israel border as Gaza death toll soars

On October 22, 2023, accompanied by a driver and a guide from Lebanon, Dimitri Lascaris visited the Lebanon-Israel border. Lascaris and his guides travelled between the Lebanese villages of Taybeh and Marjaayoun. During his visit to the region, Israeli forces shelled the Lebanese villages of Houla, to the south of Taybeh, and Kfarchouba, to the east of Marjaayoun. As a result of the Israeli attacks, five Hezbollah fighters were reportedly killed. Upon learning of the killing of the Hezbollah militants, Lascaris and his guides quickly departed the area to avoid any intensification of military clashes. The killing of five Hezbollah militants on October 22 followed an October 21 report by Israel’s Defence Minister that an Israeli-American Staff Sargent had been killed, and several other Israeli soldiers wounded, as a result of an attack by Hezbollah fighters. Since the Palestinian attacks in Israel launched on October 7, there have been near-daily clashes on the Lebanon-Israel border, sparking fears of a major expansion of Israel’s war against Palestinians.