Thread by @rayajalabi

Israel’s push to create a ‘dead zone’ in Lebanon:

Over nearly 9 months of simmering conflict with Hizbollah, Israel’s military has laid waste to swathes of southern Lebanon. We spent the past couple of months looking at the extent of the damage:

ft.com/content/9b4c3c…

Data gathered by @ft (incl analysis of Sat imagery, radar data, gvt statistics + intvs with local & state officials, researchers, civil defence workers & residents) suggests that as diplo negotiations sputter, Israel's military has used force to create a new reality on the ground

Near-daily air strikes, artillery shelling & widespread use of white phosphorus have made much of the 5km band north of the border uninhabitable. "It's systematic destruction,” said Aita al-Chaab's mayor. “They are [trying] to make it impossible for you to return & live here."

“Our beautiful village is now a ghost town,” said a Naqoura resident. He silently cried at the sight of his children’s toys in the rubble of his home. “Every village within a 10km radius of here is the same,” he said. (👇video of recent destruction on Naqoura’s main street)

More than 3k houses have been completely levelled + 12,000 more w/ medium-level damage, local officials said. Our radar estimates identified about 1,500 badly damaged structures, which is a “conservative lower-bound estimate for the extent of damage to buildings in south Lebanon”

More than 12mn sq metres of agricultural land is damaged, much of it scorched by Israel’s widespread (& at times unlawful) use of white phosphorus & medieval incendiaries like trebuchets. Decontaminating the soil could take years and farmers have lost entire seasons of income.

Read on for more details, interactive maps & interviews with some of the 95k displaced southerners who are paying the heaviest price of this war, as fears continue to mount of a full blown war breaking out.

w/ @malaika_tapper @xtophercook & Aditi Bhandari
on.ft.com/3xq67aN