Israeli forces encircle Bint Jbeil but fail to enter town, as Netanyahu looks to Lebanese front to spoil Islamabad talks
Lebanon has become the focal point of two parallel — and competing — ceasefire tracks, one unfolding in Islamabad and another in Washington DC, even as the war between Israel and Hezbollah on the ground continues to escalate.
Fighting in the south of Lebanon has mostly concentrated around Bint Jbeil and Khiam. Both areas have seen Israel conduct continuous airstrikes and expanding clashes between Israeli forces and Hezbollah.
While Khiam has been the site of a stalled Israeli advance for weeks, the fighting in Bint Jbeil is a new front in the war.
Bint Jbeil holds symbolic, strategic and historical importance for Israel, which has sought to assert control over the town since 2006. Israeli forces have moved to encircle the town, cut off supply routes and fully isolate Bint Jbeil under siege, sources in the area said to Mada Masr. Fighting remains ongoing along all routes leading to the town, however, as Hezbollah tries to push the Israelis back. Hezbollah has continued to hold off advances into the town, field sources said.
The assault on the strategic town comes as Israel tries to torpedo efforts toward deescalation. Diplomatic sources told Mada Masr that the escalation in southern Lebanon, alongside the talks in the American capital are Israeli attempts to undermine the prospects of regional deescalation.
With a ceasefire in the war on Iran and the subsequent American pressure to scale back pressure in the war in Lebanon, Israel recently deployed the 162nd Armored Division to the Bint Jbeil front. This division is typically used in decisive battles, and its main force, the 401st Armored Brigade, previously fought in Gaza, where it faced strong resistance and sustained heavy losses.
With the latest deployment, there are now five divisions, including the 98th, 36th, 146th and 91st, operating in the border south, as part of a broader effort to consolidate control along the border.
These forces have worked to encircle Bint Jbeil from multiple geographic axes, using surrounding villages and elevated positions to gradually close in on the town.
From the southwest, control of routes through Ain Ebel and Debel blocks access from the Rmeish corridor. From the west and northwest, positions in Beit Lif and Rshaf restrict movement along key road networks leading into the town.
Taken together, these positions form a tightening ring from several directions, aimed at isolating Bint Jbeil and cutting its surrounding access routes.
In surrounding Christian villages where residents are still present, including Rmeish, Debel and Ain Ebel, the situation is becoming increasingly precarious. Israeli positioning on the outskirts to encircle Bint Jbeil has effectively confined residents to the centers of their villages, with routes in and out largely cut off.
Chadi Bechara, a resident of Ain Ebel, told Mada Masr that about a week ago, residents received calls to evacuate neighborhoods on the outskirts facing Bint Jbeil. Since then, aid has stopped arriving and the sound of fighting has intensified. “We don’t even dare to stand on our roofs,” he said. “We can’t see Bint Jbeil, but we hear the bombs day and night, sometimes even more during the day.”
According to Bechara, all routes toward Beirut are closed, and there is no presence of the Lebanese army in Ain Ebel. The only accessible road leads to Rmeish, which residents use sparingly and only in urgent situations due to the risks involved. “No one can guarantee your safety if you put yourself or your family in the car,” he said, adding that the absence of both Lebanese military and UN forces leaves residents uncertain about how they would evacuate if ordered to do so.
Essential supplies are also beginning to run low. Rmeish remains the only accessible source of food and medication, but stocks there are also diminishing.
A resident in Bint Jbeil told Mada Masr that Israeli forces are carrying out a pincer-like movement from the direction of Aitaroun toward Ainata from the east, with reported clashes near Ishraq School between Ainata and Bint Jbeil, which is also close to Salah Ghandour Hospital along the outskirts of both towns.
“The current advance from the eastern axis (from Ainata, Aitaroun and Maroun al-Ras) is faster, while movements from Ain Ebel and Tiry (to the southwest) are more constrained due to more open terrain and exposure, which makes it easier for Hezbollah fighters to target Israeli Mirkavas,” the source said, adding that so far, Israeli forces have not been able to establish positions inside Bint Jbeil, including near the souk or the stadium. Instead, they remain deployed along its outskirts, in areas such as Ain Ebel, Ainata and Maroun al-Ras.
A Hezbollah source confirmed this account, telling Mada Masr that fighters are still resisting the Israeli advance from inside the town. The positions from which the Israelis are advancing are still being targeted and struck by Hezbollah, the source added.
Hezbollah said in a series of statements that it had carried out multiple attacks against Israeli forces in and around Bint Jbeil over the past two days. The group said it targeted concentrations of Israeli and military vehicles in areas including the eastern outskirts of Bint Jbeil in Tallet Shemran, Saf al-Hawa and near Khiam, using rocket barrages and guided missiles. It also reported the targeting of two Merkavas, one near Ishraq school between Ainata and Bint Jbeil and the other near Saf al-Hawa on Saturday.
Mohamed Khawaja, an MP with the Amal movement, told Mada Masr that Israeli forces have been able to besiege the town, but this does not mean the town has fallen.
“Khiam has also been besieged for weeks and it is still holding its ground,” Khawaja said. “There is no single person who can stand against the strength of the Israeli military. Yet, these men are still enduring in more than one area in the south.”
Beyond its immediate military importance, Bint Jbeil holds broader significance. It is the largest town along the southern border and a key economic hub, according to the source in the town who spoke to Mada Masr. It also carries symbolic weight from 2000, when Israel was forced to withdraw from Lebanon and former Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah described it as “weaker than a spider’s web” in a speech delivered from the town, a moment that resonates for people today.
But the battle for Bint Jbeil also has a wider geopolitical resonance.
Dissatisfied with the peace talks between Iran and the US in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad, Israel is trying to “escalate on the Lebanese front in a way that will make it impossible for the Iranian delegation to continue going to the negotiating table,” an Egyptian official briefed on the Islamabad talks told Mada Masr.
“The next week will be the week to watch the Lebanese front rather than the negotiating table in Islamabad, because, for sure, Netanyahu will want to escalate,” the official added.
The peace talks in Washington are the flipside of the military aggression. A former Arab ambassador to Lebanon called the US’s hijacking of what was a French-led peace initiative focused on gradual compromises and broad consensus a “poison pill.”
“With the original French proposal, it was only Hezbollah who was hesitant to go along with Lebanese-Israeli talks, but all other Lebanese players were engaged. Some were on board and some were in a listening mood,” the former ambassador said. “But once the Americans stepped in with their heavy handed approach, all the Shiaa joined Hezbollah in rejecting the proposal. Walid Jumblatt said he was not on board. And the Sunnis of Tripoli said they are not on board.”
Downplaying the prospect of anything meaningful to come out of the talks in DC, which are slated to begin on Tuesday, the former ambassador said “what is most important for Lebanon is not the talks that will take place in Washington between the Israelis and Lebanese, but rather a conclusive end to the US-Israeli war on Iran.”
“Once this happens, the entire region will be in a de-escalation mood,” the source added.
While Israel may see Bint Jbeil as a vector toward broader escalation in the region, for the Egyptian official informed of the Islamabad talks, this is an ill planned move.
“Hezbollah is up for a long war of attrition,” the Egyptian official said. “For Hezbollah, this is a moment of regaining legitimacy and power. And so far, they have resisted the Israeli military might in an impressive way.”The post Israeli forces encircle Bint Jbeil but fail to enter town, as Netanyahu looks to Lebanese front to spoil Islamabad talks first appeared on Mada Masr.