Israel’s military to occupy swathe of southern Lebanon amid widening war

A plume of smoke rises from the site of an Israeli strike on the eastern outskirts of Tyre, in southern Lebanon on Tuesday.

Photo: AFP Israel will occupy southern Lebanon up to the Litani River, an area Defence Minister Israel Katz on Tuesday described as a “security zone”, spelling out for the first time Israel’s intent to seize territory amounting to nearly a 10th of the country.

At a meeting with the military chief of staff, Katz said Israeli forces would “control the remaining bridges and the security zone up to the Litani,” a river that meets the Mediterranean about 30km (20 miles) ‌north of Israel’s border.

Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah said it would fight to prevent Israeli troops from occupying the south, calling such a move an “existential threat” to the Lebanese state.

Senior Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah said any Israeli occupation south of the Litani would be met with resistance. “We have no choice but to confront this aggression and cling to the land,” he said.

Heavy equipment accompanied by military vehicles cross from Israel into southern Lebanon on Tuesday.

Photo: AFP Katz has previously warned Lebanon’s government it could lose territory if it failed to disarm Hezbollah, which drew Lebanon into the US-Israeli war on Iran when it fired into Israel on March 2.

Israel has repeatedly invaded Lebanon in recent decades, and occupied the south until 2000.

Since March 13, it has destroyed five bridges over the Litani and demolished homes in border villages, actions it says are part of a campaign ⁠against Hezbollah.

Under international law, attacks on civilian infrastructure, including homes and bridges, are generally prohibited.

Asked about Katz’s comments, United Nations spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said the rhetoric was “very much concerning”. “This is the last ‌thing we would want to see.

This is the last thing the Lebanese people in the south would want to see,” he told reporters in New York.

Katz had said there could be no homes or residents in areas of southern Lebanon where there was “terror”, an apparent reference to Hezbollah.

Rockets fired from Lebanon towards Israel on Tuesday.

Photo: AFP For the second time this week, ‌he compared the approach to Israel’s campaign in Gaza, saying buildings near the border were being demolished to create a defensive buffer.

Israel’s ambulance service said a woman in ⁠Israel was killed near the border with Lebanon ⁠following missile fire towards northern Israel on Tuesday, with t

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