Jerusalem, April 20 (IANS) Israel’s military released a map of a “buffer zone” it is working to establish in southern Lebanon, showing a broad area extending several kilometers inside Lebanese territory and forming a continuous belt from Lebanon’s Mediterranean territorial waters to the Mount Hermon area near the Syrian border.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz have said that Israel will not withdraw its troops from the area, despite a temporary ceasefire that took effect at midnight between Thursday and Friday local time (2100 GMT). Katz also said that Israel would level houses and buildings in the zone, comparing it to actions in the Gaza Strip, and warned that Israeli forces would kill anyone deemed a Hezbollah member, Xinhua news agency reported.
Five divisions, alongside naval forces, are currently operating in Lebanese territory to establish what it calls a “Forward Defense Line,” aimed at “thwarting direct threats to communities of northern Israel,” the military said in a statement.
The map includes a maritime segment off the Naqoura-Ras al-Bayada coastline, indicating a naval component.
The buffer zone reaches north of key cities and towns including Bint Jbeil, Aita al-Shaab, and Khiam, and extends to the Litani River in some sectors, encompassing multiple villages and ridge lines. Lebanon and Syria have not accepted the move.
Despite the ceasefire, Israeli forces intensified military operations in southern Lebanon on Sunday, according to Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA).
In Bint Jbeil, forces continued demolishing homes to “clear the security zone,” with tanks patrolling the heavily devastated city. Troops also detonated houses in al-Bayada and al-Naqoura, blocked roads using earth mounds, and shelled the town of Kounine.
There was no immediate Israeli comment.
The map was released three days after Washington announced a 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, which had been engaged in deadly fighting since early March. During a previous ceasefire that began in November 2024, Israel continued near-daily strikes in southern and eastern Lebanon.
–IANS
int/rs