Israel’s defense minister said on Tuesday that the country’s military plans to expand the territory under its control in southern Lebanon, suggesting it was ramping up its ground offensive against the Iranian-backed militia Hezbollah.
In a statement, the minister, Israel Katz, said Israel will retain control of the territory south of the Litani River, which runs a few miles from the Israeli-Lebanese border at its closest point and is 15-20 miles away at its farthest. The river has long served as a geographic boundary in conflicts between Israel and Hezbollah.
It is unclear whether Israel would deploy troops across the entire area or rely on its air force to enforce its dominance over some parts of the area.
The statement also suggested Israel was laying the groundwork to remain in large parts of Lebanon as President Trump tries to engage talks with Iran to end the regional war.
“Hundreds of thousands of residents of southern Lebanon, who were evacuated, will not return south of the Litani River until the security of northern residents is assured,” Mr. Katz said, referring to Israelis living near Israel’s border with Lebanon.
Israel, he added, bombed five bridges along the river, which he asserted Hezbollah had used to send reinforcements to fight against Israel.
The bridges are also a lifeline for civilians still living there, who rely on them for medicine and access to hospitals.
After a previous round of fighting ended in a cease-fire agreement between the parties in late 2024, the Israeli military set up five outposts inside Lebanon in areas near the border.
But now, some in the Israeli government are hoping Israel will take over a much larger piece of territory.
“The current campaign in Lebanon must end with a fundamental change,” said Bezalel Smotrich, the hard-line Israeli finance minister behind much of his country’s recent expansions in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, speaking this week. “The Litani must become our new border with the state of Lebanon.”
Israel’s operation in Lebanon began earlier this month, after Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel in solidarity with its patron, Iran, following the surprise Israeli-American attack on Tehran on Feb. 28 that started the regional war.
Israel launched a ground maneuver into Lebanon that it said was meant to push Hezbollah fighters away from its border, and also carried out extensive airstrikes across the country, including targeting its capital, Beirut. Those airstrikes brought widespread destruction to residential neighborhoods and killed more than 1,000 people, according to the Lebanese health ministry.
Israel said its air force is targeting Hezbollah commanders and their fighters.
Mr. Katz said the Israeli military is targeting villages near the Lebanese border that have mostly emptied after Israel issued evacuation orders to the population.
He said the practice of flattening houses there follows “the Rafah and Beit Hanoun model in Gaza,” where Israel has used bulldozers to erase entire neighborhoods.
Gabby Sobelman contributed reporting from Rehovot and Euan Ward in Beirut.
Natan Odenheimer is a Times reporter in Jerusalem, covering Israeli and Palestinian affairs.
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