Israel’s military to occupy swathe of southern Lebanon, defence minister says

(Reuters)

TEL AVIV/BEIRUT, March 24 – Israel will occupy southern Lebanon up to the Litani River to create a “defensive buffer”, Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Tuesday, spelling out for the first ‌time Israel’s intent to seize territory amounting to nearly a tenth of Lebanon.

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 30 km (20 miles) north of Israel’s border.

Lebanese armed group Hezbollah said it would fight to prevent Israeli troops from occupying southern Lebanon, 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 told Reuters.

Israel has destroyed ​five bridges over the river since March 13 and accelerated the demolition of homes in Lebanese villages near the border, part of what it says ⁠is a campaign against Hezbollah rather than civilians. Under international law, attacks on civilian infrastructure, including homes and bridges, are generally prohibited.

Katz has previously warned Lebanon’s government it would lose territory if it failed ​to disarm Hezbollah, the militant group backed by Tehran that drew Lebanon into the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran when it fired into Israel on March 2.

The Israeli military declined to comment on Katz’s remarks. It has ​previously said ground troops were carrying out limited, targeted raids near the border. Israel has repeatedly invaded Lebanon in recent decades, and occupied the south until 2000.