The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited has again increased the price of premium motor spirit (PMS), also known as petrol, across its retail outlets.

On Tuesday, TheCable observed the second increase in October.

NNPC increased the pump price from N855 per litre set in September to N998 per litre on October 3.

However, at the NNPC retail outlets located at Ago Palace Way, Okota, Lagos, the price of PMS has been increased to N1,025 per litre.

In Abuja, at federal housing, Kubwa, an NNPC retail station sold the product at N1,050 per litre.

Other private filling stations such as Mobil, Rain Oil, and AA. Rano have also adjusted their prices to between N1,100 to N1,250 per litre.

The increase comes more than one month after the NNPC commenced petrol lifting at the Dangote Petroleum Refinery’s gantry after an extended period of price negotiations.

On September 15, the NNPC said petrol was bought from Dangote refinery at N898 per litre.

The Dangote refinery countered NNPC’s claim, describing it as “both misleading and mischievous”.

A day after, the national oil company announced estimated pump pricesbased on prices set by the Dangote refinery for its petroleum products, saying petrol will sell for N950 in Lagos and N999 in Abuja.

On October 10, the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) asked NNPC to refund the oil marketers’ money or to sell petrol to its members at the Dangote refinery rate.

IPMAN said its members’ money has been with NNPC for over three months.

According to the association, NNPC collected PMS from the Dangote refinery below N900 per litre, but NNPC wants oil marketers to buy the same product at the rate of N1,010 in Lagos, N1,045 in Calabar, N1,050 in Port Harcourt, and N1,040 in Warri.

On October 11, the federal government said oil marketers can now buy petroleum products directly from the Dangote refinery and other local producers — one week after directing the Dangote refinery to sell petrol to only the NNPC.

The Cable

Aliko Dangote, President of Dangote Group, announced on Tuesday that his refinery is capable of meeting Nigeria’s petrol needs, yet marketers are not taking advantage of the available supply. Dangote revealed that about 500 million liters of petrol remain in the refinery’s tanks, unused by retailers. He spoke to journalists at the State House after attending a meeting with President Bola Tinubu and the Implementation Committee on the Sale of Crude and Refined Petroleum Products.

“We have enough crude and can produce over 30 million liters of petrol daily. At full capacity, we could supply all domestic demand. Right now, there’s 500 million liters in our tanks—enough to cover the country’s consumption for over 12 days, even without imports or additional production,” Dangote explained.

He reaffirmed the refinery’s readiness, stating, “We are more than ready. I’ve assured the President that we can consistently provide at least 30 million liters per day, ramping up as needed. We’re prepared to meet demand.”

Addressing the fuel shortages and long queues at filling stations, Dangote noted that retailers have not been picking up fuel from the refinery. “We’re in the production business, not retail. If I were in retail, I’d take responsibility. But it’s the marketers who need to come and collect the fuel we’ve produced. If they don’t, what can we do?”

Dangote emphasized that while the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and other marketers are free to continue importing fuel, the available supply from his refinery could meet demand if collected. “It costs us to store this fuel. Having 500 million liters in tanks is costly. If marketers come to collect it, it would reduce the queues at filling stations,” he stated.

Dangote urged retailers to treat the refinery’s supply as they would imports, adding, “They’ve been managing distribution with imported products, so there’s no reason why they can’t come and collect from us and distribute.”

Internally generated revenue (IGR) collected by the states reached N2.43 trillion in 2023, a significant 26.03% increase from N1.93 trillion in 2022, as states focused on expanding local revenue in response to fiscal pressures. Data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) show that Lagos, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), and Rivers State generated the highest revenue, collectively contributing over N1 trillion, or more than 41% of the total IGR.

Lagos accounted for approximately 33.6% of the national IGR with N815.86 billion, while the FCT and Rivers contributed 8.7% and 8%, generating N211.10 billion and N195.41 billion, respectively.

The NBS report categorized IGR into two main sources: taxes and revenue from Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs). Taxes, including pay-as-you-earn (PAYE), direct assessments, road taxes, stamp duties, and capital gains tax, made up about 80% of the total IGR. PAYE was the largest single source, contributing N1.24 trillion, or around 63.83% of the total tax revenue, underscoring the reliance on employee-based taxes in economically active states like Lagos and the FCT.

Other Leading States

After the top three states, Ogun generated N146.87 billion, comprising N71.67 billion from taxes and N75.19 billion from MDAs. Delta followed with N114.08 billion in IGR, with N90.91 billion from taxes and N23.17 billion from MDAs. Edo recorded N64.67 billion, including N46.17 billion from taxes and N18.5 billion from MDAs.

Kaduna’s IGR rose to N62.49 billion, up by over N4 billion from N58.09 billion in 2022, with N49.02 billion from taxes and N13.46 billion from MDAs. Kwara generated N59.64 billion, including N23.12 billion from taxes and N36.51 billion from MDAs, with notable contributions from unique items such as pilgrimage fees.

Oyo State collected N52.74 billion, with N40.52 billion from taxes and N12.12 billion from MDAs, while Akwa Ibom generated N43.18 billion, with N36.07 billion from taxes and N7.11 billion from MDAs.

Despite gains among leading states, some states struggled with revenue generation. Taraba, Yobe, and Kebbi had the lowest IGR, generating N10.87 billion, N11.74 billion, and N11.74 billion, respectively.

Hezbollah names Naim Qassem as new leader, Israel says he won't last long

Lebanese armed group Hezbollah named Naim Qassem as its new leader on Tuesday but Israel said his tenure would be "temporary", an apparent threat after it killed his predecessor Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut over a month ago.

"Temporary appointment. Not for long," Israel's Defence Minister Yoav Gallant posted on X with a photo of Qassem.

Earlier, Iran-backed Hezbollah said in a written statement that its Shura Council had elected Qassem, 71, in accordance with its established mechanism for choosing a secretary general.

Qassem was appointed as Hezbollah's deputy chief in 1991 by the armed group's then-secretary general Abbas al-Musawi, who was killed by an Israeli helicopter attack the following year.

Qassem remained in his role when Nasrallah became leader, and has long been one of Hezbollah's leading spokesmen, conducting interviews with foreign media, including while cross-border hostilities with Israel raged over the last year.

Nasrallah was killed on Sept. 27 in an Israeli air attack on Beirut's southern suburbs, known as Dahiyeh, and senior Hezbollah figure Hashem Safieddine - considered the most likely successor - was killed in Israeli strikes a week later.

Since Nasrallah's killing, Qassem has given three televised addresses, including one on Oct. 8 in which he said the armed group supported efforts to reach a ceasefire for Lebanon.

He is considered by many in Lebanon to lack the charisma and gravitas of Nasrallah.

In its official Arabic account on X, the Israeli government said: "His tenure in this position may be the shortest in the history of this terrorist organization if he follows in the footsteps of his predecessors Hassan Nasrallah and Hashem Safieddine."

"There is no solution in Lebanon except to dismantle this organization as a military force," it wrote.

Reuters

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Russia fires missiles to simulate 'massive' response to a nuclear attack

Russia test-fired missiles over distances of thousands of miles on Tuesday to simulate a "massive" nuclear response to an enemy first strike.

"Given the growing geopolitical tensions and the emergence of new external threats and risks, it is important to have modern and constantly ready-to-use strategic forces," President Vladimir Putin said as he announced the exercise.

It took place at a critical moment in the Russia-Ukraine war, after weeks of Russian signals to the West that Moscow will respond if the United States and its allies allow Kyiv to fire longer-range missiles deep into Russia.

On Monday NATO said that North Korea has sent troops to western Russia, something Moscow has not denied.

In televised comments, Defence Minister Andrei Belousov told Putin that the purpose of the drill was to practise delivering "a massive nuclear strike by strategic offensive forces in response to a nuclear strike by the enemy".

The exercise involved Russia's full nuclear "triad" of ground-, sea- and air-launched missiles.

A Yars intercontinental ballistic missile was launched from Plesetsk cosmodrome in northwest Russia to Kamchatka, a peninsula in the far east. Sineva and Bulava ballistic missiles were fired from submarines, and cruise missiles were launched from strategic bomber planes, the defence ministry said.

The 2-1/2-year-old war is entering what Russian officials say is its most dangerous phase as the West considers how to shore up Ukraine while Russian forces advance in the east of the country.

Putin said using nuclear weapons would be an "extremely exceptional measure".

"I stress that we are not going to get involved in a new arms race, but we will maintain nuclear forces at the level of necessary sufficiency," he said.

He added that Russia was moving to new "stationary and mobile-based missile systems" which have a reduced launch preparation time and could overcome missile defence systems.

The drill follows an Oct. 18 exercise in the Tver region, northwest of Moscow, involving field movements by a unit equipped with Yars intercontinental ballistic missiles, capable of striking U.S. cities.

NUCLEAR SIGNALS

Since the start of the war, Putin has sent a series of pointed signals to the West, including by changing Russia's position on major nuclear treaties and announcing the deployment of tactical nuclear missiles to neighbouring Belarus.

Ukraine has accused him of nuclear blackmail. NATO says it will not be intimidated by Russian threats.

Last month the Kremlin leader approved changes to the official nuclear doctrine, extending the list of scenarios under which Moscow would consider using such weapons.

Under the changes, Russia would consider any assault on it supported by a nuclear power to be a joint attack - a warning to the United States not to help Ukraine strike deep into Russia with conventional weapons.

Putin has said that Russia does not need to resort to the use of nuclear weapons in order to achieve victory in Ukraine.

Russia is the world's largest nuclear power. Together, Russia and the U.S. control 88% of the world's nuclear warheads.

U.S. officials say they have seen no change to Russia's nuclear deployment posture during the war. But the United States in 2022 was so concerned about the possible use of tactical nuclear weapons by Russia that it warned Putin over the consequences of using such weapons, according to Central Intelligence Agency Director Bill Burns.

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Ukraine to force another 160,000 men into military – official

Kiev will conscript 160,000 more troops over the next three months, according to statements from lawmakers and media outlets. More than a million soldiers have already been drafted, yet high losses have left the Ukrainian Armed Forces plagued by manpower shortages.

Speaking in parliament on Tuesday, Ukrainian lawmaker Alexey Goncharenko said that “1.05 million citizens have been recruited into the defense forces” since the conflict with Russia escalated in February 2022.

“We aim to call up 160,000 more individuals, which will allow us to staff military units with up to 85% personnel,” he said, noting that this information came from Alexander Litvinenko, the secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council.

Shortly afterwards, AFP reported that these troops would be called up over the next three months, citing an unnamed “security source.”

The Ukrainian Armed Forces had around 250,000 active-duty personnel at the beginning of 2022, a number that rapidly swelled once Vladimir Zelensky called up reservists and forbade draft-age men from leaving the country.

This spring, faced with mounting losses, Kiev lowered the draft age from 27 to 25 and significantly tightened mobilization rules, requiring potential recruits to report to conscription offices for “data validation.” These checks often result in people being immediately taken into the army and sent to the front line.

Videos showing recruitment officers attempting to catch eligible men in various public places, often resulting in violent clashes, have since appeared online.

Ukraine does not publish its casualty figures, and Zelensky’s claim earlier this year that only 31,000 men have been killed or wounded fighting against Russia was widely ridiculed. According to the latest figures from the Russian Defense Ministry, Ukraine’s true casualty count stands at over half a million, or around half of its pre- and post-mobilization manpower combined.

According to a flood of articles in Western media outlets, conscripted soldiers are often sent to the front with limited training, and are regarded by their more experienced comrades as unfit for combat. “When the new guys get to the position, a lot of them run away at the first shell explosion,” a deputy commander fighting in Donetsk Region told Financial Times last month. “Some guys freeze [because] they are too afraid to shoot the enemy, and then they are the ones who leave in body bags or severely wounded,” another commander added.

Reuters/RT

Never have Nigerians experienced hardship, suffering and pain as they did under President Muhammadu Buhari (PMB) and are now doing under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu (PBAT)

General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB) lay a solid foundation of the current crises. He imposed the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank (WB) Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) in July 1986, contrary to popular opposition.

President Shehu Shagari of the Second Republic and General Muhammadu Buhari’s military administration had stubbornly resisted the implementation of SAP, especially the devaluation of the naira, despite intense pressures by President Ronald Reagan of the United States. Both were developing alternative economic adjustment programs, when their administrations were terminated in military coup d’état.

After more than thirty-eight years of implementing IMF/WB neoliberalism, the conditions in which the majority of Nigerians live and work have increasingly worsened. The past is far better than the present.

Most Nigerians are finding it extremely difficult to feed themselves and their families due to skyrocketing inflation. Foodstuff inflation rose from 25.25 per cent in June 2023 to 40.87 per cent in June 2024. This has led to high suicide rates, abandonment of kids and children, marriage break-ups, mass migration of Nigerian professionals and youths out of the country.

Worst still, factories, small and medium scale establishments keep closing down with unemployment rising. This has been the worst experience of Nigerians since independence in 1960.

Fuelling and driving the crises is PBAT’s slavish acceptance and religious implementation of IMF and WB neoliberal policies. In particular, his ill-thought removal of petrol subsidies, and illogical devaluation of the Naira, amongst others. But, why is PBAT able to get away with his anti-people and anti-Nigeria policies without much ado?

First, the current dispensation, is simply a military rule-like civilian rule. Just as the military Head of State, the President is not only the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, but also the Chief Executive Officer, the Chief-Economic Officer, Chief-Commercial Officer and Chief-Diplomat of Nigeria, so is PBAT.

Thus, PBAT’s powers are virtually absolute. As such, he does whatever he wishes, with impunity. This is especially as he is stubborn, rich and grounded. This would not have been the case if Nigeria were practicing parliamentary system of government as it did in the First Republic.

Second, federalism is practiced only in name. In reality, Nigeria is a unitary system which concentrates power in the centre; subordinates the federating states to the centre; and favours majority nationalities at the expense of minority nationalities. The exception here is the populous Hausa nationality which for historical, political and economic reasons, is subordinated to the minority Fulani, the tiny group which controls power in the north.

If Nigeria were running a parliamentary system, the electorate would have held their representatives responsible, accountable, and answerable for PBAT’s witchcraft economism.

Thirdly, unlike in the First Republic where liberal democracy existed, flourished and flowered, the reverse is the case in the current dispensation. The right of people to form political parties, on whatever basis including class, ethnicity or religion, was one of the most rudimentary, but fundamental, tenets of democracy. This right currently is monetized, tacitly ethnicised and, therefore, virtually denied.

Only the rich can afford the resources, finances and technical know-how to form political parties. Only rich individuals like PBAT, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi have the resources, finance and people to form parties and contest in a serious manner, the presidential elections.

The point here is that, since 1999, it has been practically, elections without choice. Election without alternatives. It was even worst in 2023, where PBAT, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi all vouched, arrogantly and boastfully, to religiously implement IMF/WB neoliberalism, and be obedient servants of Western powers. So they would not have been fundamentally different from PBAT.

Also, unlike in the First Republic, the current electorate is politically disempowered. In the First Republic, the flowering of political parties would have made the emergence of dictators like Obasanjo, Buhari and Tinubu extremely difficult, if not impossible. Surely, political parties defended the interests of dominant classes within and outside the parties, but with due consideration to the ‘interests of their electorates’.

Besides, the political parties of ethnic minority nationalities seriously defended the interests of their peoples. In the words of the nationalist, Mokwugo Okoye: such parties: “not only spread political consciousness in their areas but also help preserve democracy by hammering constantly on local discontent and checking the tyrannical abuses of power by the majority political parties.” Also, socialist, labour and peasant-based parties asserted and defended the class interests of the working peoples.

The Northern Elements Progressive Unions (NEPU), for instance, did its best to defend the interests of the Hausa peasants to the extent that the Emir of Zaria bitterly, almost tearfully, complained that one of the greatest sins Mallam Aminu Kano (NEPU) committed was to let the Talakawa (working masses) know they can say “no”!

Today, the reverse is the case. There are no real political parties; just platforms for contesting elections and embarking on primitive accumulation of capital.

Fourthly, the military regimes that preceded the current dispensation laid the solid foundation for PBAT. They disorganised, demobilised and strangulated the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), seized it, and imposed their agents as leaders. Today, NLC is totally a contrast of what it was in the 1970s to the mid-1980s. It is unable to authoritatively assert itself and defend workers’ interests as it did in the past.

The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) was also violently seized by the military despots. They did so by financing, arming and defending degenerate, cultists, money-minded and lumpen students to take-over the association. Today, NANS is nothing but a wing of the Presidency and extension of the office of Governors. Its leadership, in fact, imitates and apes the degeneracy of the most retrograde elements of Nigerian politicians.

The point here is that with a labour and student-centered movement, PBAT would have been unable to successfully and proudly inflict pain on Nigerians.

Finally, is the emergence of the protest industrial complex (PIC) in Nigeria from the late 1980s, composed mainly by non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and civil society organisations (CSOs) Mostly funded by Western powers, governments and politicians, they professionalise, commodify, and monetize activism (popular protests).

Not only has the PIC swallowed a lot of the activists that led the popular struggles against SAP in the 1980s, it has successfully disoriented, disorganised and undermined popular struggles. It has distracted attention from systemic and structural causes of the crisis by paying attention mainly to their effects; and reduced the victims to helpless – instead of active – beings, capable of asserting their authority, achieving their goals, and making politicians responsible and accountable.

So just as the military physically brutalised the labour and student movements of the 1980s, so has the protest industrial complex psychologically brutalised and, is still brutalizing the psychosomatic of Nigerian masses. These are why Nigerians are suffering today.

** Ahmed Aminu-Ramatu Yusuf worked as deputy director, Cabinet Affairs Office, The Presidency, and retired as General Manager (Administration), Nigerian Meteorological Agency, (NiMet). Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The Northern States Governors’ Forum (NSGF) says the region is worst hit by economic hardship.

Mohammed Yahaya, governor of Gombe state and chair of the NSGF, spoke on Monday in Kaduna when the forum met with Christopher Musa, chief of defence staff, and traditional rulers over insecurity, and power outages in the region.

“We must continue to work with the federal government and relevant agencies to provide the necessary support and relief to those affected”, Yahaya said.

“As we gather today, our collective resolve is being tested by the ongoing challenges that we face.

“These include but are not limited to terrorism, banditry, kidnap for ransom, farmer-herder clashes, drug abuse, the menace of Almajiri and out-of-school children, poverty and unemployment.”

Yahaya said the youths are becoming restive because of the economic hardship and worsening insecurity in the north.

He urged governors in the region to collaborate witn the federal government to ensure that fiscal policies are sensitive to current realities.

“The recent #EndBadGovernance protests that took place in August serve as a wake-up call for all northern leaders,” he said.

“Youth restiveness is a growing concern, driven by illiteracy, poverty, and lack of economic opportunities. Our young people are calling out for change and it is our responsibility to listen and act.

“We must scale up efforts to tackle the root causes of youth restiveness by investing in education, skills development and job creation.

“Let us focus on creating pathways for the youth to channel their energy into productive ventures, thereby reducing their vulnerability to crime and social vices.

“The economic hardship faced by many Nigerians today is undeniable and considering the north-south disparity in economic inequality, it is even more pronounced in northern Nigeria.

“This calls for urgent intervention. It is essential that we, as leaders, adopt measures to alleviate the suffering such as targeted social welfare programmes, support for small and medium enterprises, and policies that attract investment to our states.”

He lamented the electricity crisis in the region and urged the federal government to build additional transmission lines to improve power distribution.

“As we speak today, most of our Northern states are in darkness due to vandalisation of electricity transmission infrastructure,” Yahaya added.

“This not only underscores the vulnerability of critical infrastructure but also the need to build additional transmission lines and diversify our energy supply so as to better connect our region and improve our energy resilience.”

Yahaya said northern governors must adopt policies that promote environmental conservation, sustainable agricultural practices, and responsible resource management.

The governor noted that the north holds immense agricultural potential, which if fully harnessed, can significantly alleviate hunger and boost economic growth.

He said adequate support must be provided to farmers, including grants and loans, modern farming techniques, infrastructure, improved security and irrigation systems.

The NSGF chair asked his colleagues to prioritise industrialisation by reviving moribund factories such as textile and agro-allied industries.

The Cable

The stock market segment of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) kicked off the new week on a negative note, dropping by N448.41 billion over investors’ profit-taking in BUA Cement Plc and 27 others listed companies.

As the stock price of BUA Cement dropped by 10 per cent to close at N99.00 per share, the overall market capitalisation closed yesterday at N59.812 trillion, about N448.41 billion decline from N60.2601 trillion it closed for trading last week.

Consequently, the NGX All-Share Index declined by 0.74 per cent to close at 98,708.90 basis points from 99,448.91basis points it opened for trading, with the Month-till-Date (MtD) and Year-till-Date (YtD) returns moderating to +0.2per cent and +32.0per cent, respectively.

Sectoral performance on the Exchange was negative, as the NGX Industrial Goods index was down by 3.5per cent, NGX Banking index and NGX Insurance index dropped by 1.5per cent and 1.1 per cent, respectively. 

In addition, NGX Oil & Gas index depreciated by 0.3per cent, and NGX Consumer Goods index fell by 0.3per cent.

Also, market breadth closed negative as 18 stocks gained relative to 28 losers.

Eunisell recorded the highest price gain of 10 per cent each to close at N3.85, per share. Livestock followed with a gain of 9.97 per cent to close at N3.75, while Transcorp increased by 9.95 per cent to close at N48.60, per share.

RT Briscoe went up by 9.84 per cent to close at N3.35, while Jaiz Bank appreciated by 9.28 per cent to close at N2.59, per share.

On the other hand, BUA Cement led the losers’ chart by 10 per cent to close at N99, per share. LASACO followed with a decline of 9.79per cent to close at 2.58, while Daarcomm declined by 9.38 per cent to close at N0.58, per share.

The stock price of  Regacny insurance dropped by 8.93 per cent to close at  N0.51 per share as JapaulGold dipped by 6.58 per cent to close at N2.28  per share.

The total volume of trades decreased by 25 percent to 345.79 million units, valued at N4.38 billion, and exchanged in 9,281 deals. Chams was the most traded stock by volume at 84.62 million units, while UBA was the most traded stock by value at N790.18 million.

On the stock market  performance this week, analysts at Cowry Assets Management Limited pointed that the recent positive quarterly corporate earnings reports have further buoyed market sentiment, particularly in the banking, industrial goods, and consumer goods sectors, delivering strong performances from key players and driving the benchmark index closer to the 100,000-points psychological threshold.

“Notably, we think the current rally is likely to persist, though cautious profit-taking activities may create intermittent dips. Looking ahead, we see the local bourse poised for further gains as investors look forward to the upcoming macroeconomic data releases and corporate earnings reports, which are anticipated to influence short-term trading dynamics,” Cowry stated.

The chief operating officer of InvestData Consulting Limited, Ambrose Omordion said: “We expect positive sentiment and mixed trend to continue on profit taking and positioning, ahead of more Q3 earnings reports. Also, sector rotation and portfolio rebalancing continue in the market, with investors taking advantage of pullbacks to buy into value.”

Thisday

The central bank of Nigeria has signed an agreement with the International Finance Corp to expand local currency financing for Nigerian businesses and cut foreign exchange risks, the agencies said in a statement on Monday.

The IFC, a World Bank Group member, aims to "significantly scale up" its financing in Nigeria, targeting over $1 billion in the coming years, the statement said.

The partnership will enable IFC to manage currency risks and increase its investments in Nigeria's naira currency across agriculture, housing, infrastructure, energy, small and medium-sized enterprises, and the creative industry.

"Many of these sectors require local currency financing, and IFC's partnership with the (central bank) is a key tool in expanding access," the statement said.

Reuters

Israeli campaign leaves Lebanese border towns in ruins, satellite images show

Israel's military campaign in southern Lebanon has caused vast destruction in more than a dozen border towns and villages, reducing many of them to clusters of grey craters, according to satellite imagery provided to Reuters by Planet Labs Inc.

Many of the towns, emptied of their residents by the bombing, had been inhabited for at least two centuries. The imagery reviewed includes towns between Kfarkela in southeastern Lebanon, south past Meiss al-Jabal, and then west past a base used by U.N. peacekeepers to the small village of Labbouneh.

"There are beautiful old homes, hundreds of years old. Thousands of artillery shells have hit the town, hundreds of air strikes," said Abdulmonem Choukeir, mayor of Meiss al-Jabal, one of the villages hit by Israeli attacks.

"Who knows what will still be standing at the end?"

Reuters compared satellite images taken in October 2023 to those taken in September and October 2024. Many of the villages with striking visible damage over the course of the last month sit atop hills overlooking Israel.

After nearly a year of exchanging fire across the border, Israel intensified its strikes on southern Lebanon and beyond over the last month. Israeli troops have made ground incursions all along the mountainous frontier with Lebanon, engaging in heavy clashes with Hezbollah fighters inside some towns.

Lebanon's disaster risk management unit, which tracks both victims and attacks on specific towns, said the 14 towns reviewed by Reuters had been subject to a total of 3,809 attacks by Israel over the last year.

Israel's military did not immediately respond to Reuters questions about the scale of destruction. Israel's military spokesman Daniel Hagari said on Oct. 24 that Israel has struck more than 3,200 targets in south Lebanon.

The military says it is attacking towns in southern Lebanon because Hezbollah has turned "civilian villages into fortified combat zones," hiding weapons, explosives and vehicles there. Hezbollah denies using civilian infrastructure to launch attacks or store weapons, and residents of the towns deny the assertion.

A person familiar with Israel's military operations in Lebanon told Reuters that troops were systematically attacking towns with strategic overlook points, including Mhaibib.

The person said that Israel had "learned lessons" after its last war with Hezbollah in 2006, including incidents in which troops making ground incursions into the valleys of southern Lebanon were attacked by Hezbollah fighters on hilltops.

"That is why they are targeting these villages so heavily - so they can move more freely," the person said.

The most recent images of Kfarkela showed a string of white splotches along a main road leading into a town. Imagery taken last year showed the same road lined with houses and green vegetation, indicating the houses had been pulverized.

Further south, Meiss al-Jabal, a town 700 meters (yards) away from the U.N.-demarcated Blue Line separating Israeli and Lebanese territory, suffered significant destruction to an entire block near the town centre.

The area, measuring approximately 150 meters by 400 metres, appeared as a swatch of sandy brown, signalling the buildings there had been entirely flattened. Images from the same month in 2023 showed a densely packed neighbourhood of homes.

'ANY SIGN OF LIFE'

At least 1.2 million people have been displaced by Israel's strikes and more than 2,600 have been killed over the last year - a vast majority in the last month, Lebanon's government says.

Residents of the border villages have not been able to reach their hometowns in months. "After war came to Meiss al-Jabal, after the residents left, we no longer know anything about the state of the village," Meiss al-Jabal's mayor said.

Imagery of the nearby village of Mhaibib depicted similar levels of destruction. Mhaibib is one of several villages - alongside Kfarkela, Aitaroun, Odaisseh, and Ramyeh - featured in footage shared on social media showing simultaneous explosions of several structures at once, indicating they had been laden with explosives.

Israel's military spokesman said on Oct. 24 that a command centre for Hezbollah's elite Radwan unit lay under Mhaibib, and that Israeli troops had "neutralised the main tunnel network" used by the group, but did not give details.

Hagari has said that Israel's goal is to "push Hezbollah away from the border, dismantle its capabilities, and eliminate the threat to northern residents" of Israel.

"This is a plan you take off the shelf," said Jon Alterman, senior vice president at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington. "Militaries plan, and they're executing the plan."

Seth Jones, another senior vice president at CSIS, had earlier told Reuters that Hezbollah used frontline villages to fire its shorter-range rockets into Israel.

Lubnan Baalbaki, the conductor of Lebanon's philharmonic orchestra and son of late Lebanese artist Abdel-Hamid Baalbaki, said his family had been purchasing satellite imagery of their hometown of Odaisseh to check if the family house still stood.

The house had been transformed by Abdel-Hamid into a cultural centre, full of his art works, original sketches and more than 1,000 books in an all-wood library. Abdel-Hamid passed away in 2013 and was buried behind the house with his late wife.

"We're a family of artists, my father is well-known, and our home was a known cultural home. We were trying to reassure ourselves with that thought," Baalbaki, the son, told Reuters.

Until late October, the house still stood. But at the weekend Baalbaki saw a video circulating of several homes in Odaisseh, including his family's, exploding.

The family is not affiliated to Hezbollah and Baalbaki denied that any weapons or military equipment were stored there.

"If you have such high-level intelligence that you can target specific military figures, then you know what's in that house," Baalbaki said. "It was an art house. We are all artists. The aim is to erase any sign of life."

Reuters