Did Israeli troops raise their flag in the south Lebanon village of Maroun el-Ras?

A number of Israeli soldiers appeared to have raised the Israeli flag on Lebanese ground on Tuesday amid their attempted ground invasion of southern Lebanon.

In a video shared online, the soldiers can be seen hoisting the flag in the village of Maroun el-Ras in Bint Jbeil district in Nabatieh, located roughly one kilometre away from the Israeli border.

The flag was raised above what appeared to be destroyed infrastructure and rubble.

In the video, the soldiers can be heard saying in Hebrew: "Pay attention to the Iranian promenade/boardwalk, in front of Avivim," in reference to the Israeli settlement which is located less than one kilometre from the Blue Line, the UN-demarcated border between the countries after Israel withdrew from southern Lebanon in 2000.

The stunt was then accompanied by a statement from Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen, who claimed the Israeli army had "occupied" the village and "destroyed the houses from which Hezbollah launched anti-tank missiles at Israeli civilians".

The raising of the flag was broadcast by the Israeli Broadcasting Authority.

Andrea Tenenti, the spokesperson for UNIFIL, the UN Interim Force in Lebanon, told Lebanese outlets L’Orient-Le Jour and LBC that the situation was "unclear and unsafe" in Maroun del-Ras, but confirmed that the Israeli soldiers had left the area, but couldn’t confirm if there was a full withdrawal.

Hezbollah, however, released a statement saying that it had targeted the Israeli soldiers with a missile at around 8 p.m. on Tuesday, presumably after the raising of the flag happened.

Lebanese outlet 961 mag reported that the incident took place in what's called the Iranian Garden, an Iranian-Hezbollah site which previously featured larger-than-life cut-outs of Hezbollah-linked figures Qassem Soleimani and current Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, among others.

The site was targeted in October last year during the beginning of Israel's cross-border confrontations with Hezbollah, amid the war in in Gaza, 961 said.

On Wednesday, Hezbollah said it once again fired rockets at a group of Israeli soldiers in Maroun al-Ras.

Israel launched a ground invasion of Lebanon on October 1, one week after it began intensifying its strikes on the country’s south, the capital Beirut’s southern suburbs and other parts of the country.

At least 2,119 have been killed since Israel and Hezbollah’s cross-border fighting began over a year ago after Tel Aviv began its military operation in the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023.

The death toll dramatically increased since September 23.

Israeli soldiers, and settlers, regularly raise Israeli flags in Palestinian locations in a provocative manner.

In November last year, one month after the start of the war, Israeli soldiers lifted the flag and sang the Israeli national anthem on a beach in Gaza.

Israeli soldiers and settlers frequently brandish the country's flag at east Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and Hebron's Ibrahimi Mosque among other locations.