Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz announced on Tuesday that the Israeli army will maintain control over a large area of southern Lebanon even after the end of the current war against Hezbollah.
Katz said in a video statement released by his ministry: “At the end of the operation, the Israeli army will establish a security zone inside Lebanon, forming a defensive line against anti-tank missiles, and will enforce full security control over the entire area up to the Litani River,” at a depth of approximately 30 kilometers from the border.
He added that hundreds of thousands of displaced Lebanese “will be strictly prevented” from returning to their homes until the security of northern Israel is guaranteed.
He said: “All homes in the villages adjacent to the border in Lebanon will be demolished, following the model of Rafah and Beit Hanoun in Gaza.”
During the war in the Gaza Strip, which began on October 7, 2023, and lasted two years, Israel destroyed the cities of Rafah and Beit Hanoun.
The war in the Middle East extended to Lebanon on March 2, after the Iran-backed group launched rockets at Israel in response to the assassination of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on the first day of the U.S.-Israeli attack. Israel has responded by carrying out wide-scale airstrikes on Lebanon.
Israeli strikes on Lebanon since the start of the war have killed more than 1,200 people and displaced more than one million others, according to the latest figures released by the Health Ministry.
For its part, Human Rights Watch announced on Sunday that it had sent a letter to Katz expressing its “deep concern over recent statements by Israeli officials, which undermine respect for international humanitarian law and willingness to comply with it.”
The letter, a copy of which was published by the organization, stated that “these concerns arise in the context of a broader pattern of violations of the laws of war by Israeli forces.”
The organization also referred to statements made by Katz on March 16, in which he threatened to prevent the return of residents who had fled the area south of the Litani River.
It said that “using the prevention of civilians’ return as a bargaining chip constitutes forced displacement, which is prohibited under the laws of war and may amount to a war crime.”
Meanwhile, Israeli army spokesperson Nadav Shoshani told journalists on Tuesday that Hezbollah has launched “between 4,000 and 5,000 rockets, drones, and mortar shells … toward Israel since the start of the war, some targeting our forces and others targeting civilian communities.”
