Israel Says It Will Maintain Security Zone in Southern Lebanon After War

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) - AFP reported that Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said Tuesday that Israeli forces would remain in parts of southern Lebanon after the current war, stating the military intends to establish a security zone inside Lebanese territory following the end of operations against Hezbollah.

Katz said in a video statement released by his ministry that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) would “establish itself in a security zone inside Lebanon, on a defensive line against anti-tank missiles,” and would maintain “security control over the entire area up to the Litani,” referring to a river approximately 30 kilometers from the Israeli border.

According to AFP, Katz indicated that the deployment would continue beyond the conclusion of active hostilities, outlining what he described as a defensive posture aimed at preventing threats to northern Israel. He added that displaced Lebanese residents would be prevented from returning to areas adjacent to the border until Israeli security conditions are met.

“All the houses in the villages adjacent to the border in Lebanon will be demolished in accordance with the Rafah and Beit Hanoun model in Gaza,” Katz said in the statement, as cited by AFP.

The remarks come amid ongoing fighting between Israeli forces and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, where ground operations and airstrikes have intensified in recent days.

The Israeli military said Tuesday that four soldiers were killed in combat in southern Lebanon, according to a military statement. The statement named three of the soldiers as belonging to the same battalion and said a fourth, not yet publicly identified, died in the same incident.

A separate military statement said another soldier was severely wounded and a reservist sustained moderate injuries, according to the same source.

The Israeli military did not provide further details regarding the location or timing of the incident, but said the casualties occurred during ongoing operations against Hezbollah in the south of the country.

The announcement followed earlier reports of intensified military activity along the Lebanese-Israeli front. AFP reported that Israeli airstrikes on Monday targeted Beirut’s southern suburbs, killing at least three Hezbollah members and wounding several others, citing a security source.

The source said the strike hit an apartment used as an office by Hezbollah, resulting in three deaths and three serious injuries. The Israeli military said it had begun striking what it described as Hezbollah “terrorist infrastructure” in Beirut after issuing evacuation warnings to residents in the affected area, according to AFP.

An AFP photographer at the scene reported that the apartment was located in a densely populated area containing shops and commercial buildings, several of which were damaged in the blast. Eyewitnesses said casualties were evacuated shortly after the strike, while Hezbollah members established a security perimeter around the site.

The airstrikes in Beirut were part of a broader Israeli campaign that resumed Monday, with additional strikes reported in the outskirts of the capital and across southern Lebanon, according to AFP.

In a separate incident, Israeli forces struck a Lebanese army checkpoint in the Tyre area, killing one soldier and wounding others, a military source told AFP. The source described the attack as the first direct strike on a Lebanese army checkpoint since the conflict began.

The escalation has also affected international peacekeeping forces. A spokesperson for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said several peacekeepers were wounded Monday in an incident near Bani Hayyan, according to AFP.

The announcement came a day after an Indonesian peacekeeper was killed and three others were injured when a projectile of unknown origin struck a UN position near the border, the report said.

The latest developments follow a broader deterioration in regional security after Hezbollah launched rocket attacks against Israel on March 2, describing them as retaliation for the killing of Iran’s supreme leader, according to the background reports.

The attacks marked an escalation in a wider confrontation linked to the ongoing conflict involving the United States, Israel, and Iran, according to the same reports.

Since then, Israel has conducted extensive airstrikes across Lebanon and launched a ground offensive in the south. Lebanese authorities have said that more than 1,200 people have been killed since the start of hostilities, including civilians, paramedics, and journalists, according to the reports.

Hezbollah has continued to announce attacks against Israeli targets, including strikes on military positions and what it described as an intelligence facility near Tel Aviv, according to the same sources.

Israeli military officials have also reported casualties in the Lebanese theater. A previous military statement cited in the reports said one soldier was killed and another seriously wounded during fighting, bringing the number of Israeli military fatalities to six at that point.

Tuesday’s announcement raised the number of Israeli soldiers killed in the southern Lebanon campaign, based on publicly disclosed figures, according to the military.

A report by Ynet News cited by the background material said Israeli forces operating in southern Lebanon are expanding a designated security zone, with officials expecting troops could remain deployed inside Lebanese territory for an extended period.

The report said Israeli forces are operating under sustained fire, including artillery, rockets, and anti-tank missiles, while attempting to establish control over areas near the border and dismantle what the military describes as militant infrastructure.

The same report noted that Israeli troops are working to clear weapons caches and prevent armed groups from maintaining a presence along the frontier.

The Israeli military has also released footage of operations conducted by a specialized unit in mountainous terrain along the border region, according to the background material, with the stated aim of locating and dismantling infrastructure used by armed groups.

The statements by Israel’s defence minister outlining a continued presence inside southern Lebanon come as Israeli forces remain engaged in combat operations in the area and report ongoing casualties among their ranks.