Published On 4/24/2026
Looting operations carried out by occupation soldiers in the villages of southern Lebanon have escalated recently, in a scene that is now taking place openly without an attempt to hide the stolen items, in light of a clear absence of accountability or deterrent measures from the military leadership.
According to what was reported by Haaretz newspaper, Israeli soldiers, whether from regular or reserve forces, are looting civilian property from their homes and shops in towns and villages that were evacuated of their residents during the recent war. The stolen items include household appliances, furniture, and bicycles, in a phenomenon that the newspaper described as expanding.
In a related context, the newspaper quoted testimonies from members of the occupation soldiers in which they confirmed that their leaders had not taken any real measures to stop these violations, despite their knowledge of them.
According to these testimonies, leaders sometimes merely issue formal reprimands without imposing penalties, while some military police points that had been set up at exit points from Lebanon were removed with the aim of reducing looting operations.
Repetitive pattern
The newspaper also indicated that some soldiers brag about what they are doing, as testimonies spoke of storming a house in the town of Marjayoun and tampering with its contents, while an Israeli female soldier appeared showing off the food supplies she had obtained from a house that its owners had left to escape the war.
This comes in the context of similar practices documented in previous reports during the war on Gaza, where Israeli soldiers displayed stolen items, including jewelry, seized from civilian homes.
This behavior, according to a report by colleague Walid Al-Attar, reflects a recurring pattern of Israeli military practices, as the facts are similar between the Lebanese arenas and the Gaza Strip, in terms of forced evacuation and systematic destruction, all the way to soldiers being given free rein in looting operations with an absence of accountability.
This comes in light of the widespread destruction of infrastructure in southern Lebanon, in parallel with the decline in the intensity of field escalation, especially after the ceasefire took effect.
These data indicate, according to the report, that the availability of an environment devoid of accountability, in addition to the difficulty of residents returning to their areas due to the extent of the destruction, has contributed to the continuation of these violations, and opened the way for soldiers to seize civilian property in the affected areas.
