Israel's planned expansion of Lebanon ground campaign fuels fears of prolonged occupation

"Hundreds of thousands of Shi'ite residents of southern Lebanon who have evacuated or are evacuating their homes in southern Lebanon and Beirut will not return to areas south of the Litani line until the safety of northern residents is ensured, Katz said in a statement. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and I have instructed the IDF to destroy the terror infrastructure in the contact villages near the border in Lebanon, just as was done against Hamas in Rafah, Beit Hanoun and the terror tunnels in Gaza."

"Under the November 2024 ceasefire agreement, Hezbollah was to pull back from southern Lebanon and the Lebanese military was to take over, in exchange for Israel ceasing its bombardment of the country. Israel said Lebanon never upheld its part of the deal, and it continued to carry out near-daily air strikes against what it said were Hezbollah positions and weapons."

"The new war began when Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel on 2 March, prompting Israel to launch a campaign across Lebanon. Since then, the conflict has escalated sharply and has already pushed beyond the parameters of the 13-month Israel-Hezbollah war of 2023-24. Israel has displaced about 1 million people from wide swathes of the country."

Israel announced a ground campaign in new areas of southern Lebanon, intensifying fears of prolonged occupation among hundreds of thousands of displaced Lebanese. Defence Minister Israel Katz stated that displaced Shi'ite residents would not return until Israeli border safety was guaranteed, drawing comparisons to Gaza operations. This contradicts the November 2024 ceasefire agreement requiring Hezbollah withdrawal and Lebanese military deployment. Israel claims Lebanon violated the agreement and continued airstrikes against alleged Hezbollah positions. The conflict escalated after Hezbollah fired rockets on March 2, prompting Israeli military operations across Lebanon. Approximately 1 million people have been displaced, with over 800 reported deaths since escalation began.

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