Netanyahu says Israel will ‘expand buffer zone’ in Lebanon

Israel attacks strategic bridge in southern Lebanon; see VIDEO Israel’s Prime Minister, Benhamin Netanyahu, stated this Wednesday (25) that his Army will expand the “buffer zone” in Lebanon. ✅ Follow the g1 international news channel on WhatsApp In a post on the social network X, Netanyahu said that Israel is “expanding this security zone to eliminate the threat of anti-tank missiles.” “We are simply creating a larger buffer zone. Now the issue of Hezbollah’s dissolution is before our eyes,” he said. The speech comes one day after Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz stated that the country will control a strip of around 30 km in southern Lebanon up to the Litani River. Israel resumed the war against the Lebanese extremist group Hezbollah in the first days of March and is already carrying out a ground operation in the neighboring country, which so far it calls “limited”. Katz said the goal is to establish a “safety zone” in the South after destroying bridges over the Litani River. According to him, the structures were used by Hezbollah. In addition, the Israeli military will control the remaining bridges in the region, Katz announced. “All five bridges over the Litani River that Hezbollah used to transport terrorists and weapons have been destroyed, and the Israel Defense Forces will control the remaining routes in the security zone to the Litani,” Katz said at an Army cabinet meeting. The Israeli minister also added that residents of southern Lebanon who have left their homes should not return: “They will not return to the south of the Litani River until the safety of residents of northern Israel is guaranteed,” he said. Map shows bridges destroyed by Israel in southern Lebanon amid the war against Hezbollah in March 2026. Lara Bernardino/Arte g1 Land operation Israel has been carrying out a ground operation in southern Lebanon since the beginning of the month against the terrorist group Hezbollah. Over the weekend, Israeli troops began demolishing bridges over the Litani River, which connects a 30km strip of southern Lebanon to the rest of the country. Katz’s talk of a “security zone” represents a further escalation in the ground operation and raises fears that a full-scale invasion could be on the horizon. Over the weekend, the Lebanese government accused Israel of wanting to create a “buffer zone” in the south of the country. Hezbollah told the Reuters news agency on Tuesday that the group will fight to prevent Israel from creating a “buffer zone” in the region and said that the Israeli occupation in southern Lebanon is an “existential threat” to the Lebanese state. ➡️ Context: The ad takes the Lebanese back to 1982, when, in the context of the civil war, Israel invaded the entire region. The Israeli army maintained a buffer zone between 10 and 20 km deep until its complete withdrawal in 2000, under pressure from the pro-Iran Hezbollah movement. Israeli tanks and armored vehicles positioned on the Israeli side of the border between Israel and Lebanon amid the escalation of war against the rebel group Hezbollah on March 10, 2026. REUTERS/Amir Cohen The Israeli minister again accused the Lebanese government on Tuesday of not fulfilling the commitment it had made to disarm Hezbollah, which would justify the “security zone” in Lebanese territory to guarantee the safety of Israeli citizens in the north of the country. ‘Buffer zone’ “Buffer zone” is a military term used to describe a strip of territory created to separate hostile forces and reduce the chance of direct confrontation between them. It is used as a containment area between two combat fronts. The Litani River, which crosses Lebanon almost entirely from east to west, is important in the war between Israel and Hezbollah because a 2006 UN resolution, created to establish another ceasefire, determined that the terrorist group should withdraw from areas in southern Lebanon and used the river as a reference point. Israel accuses Hezbollah of not complying with the resolution. Israeli attack on bridge in Qasmiyeh, Lebanon Reuters/Amr Abdallah Dalsh ‘What did I do to deserve it?’ Since Iran-backed Hezbollah dragged Lebanon into the regional war, Israel has carried out hundreds of attacks in the neighboring country, which authorities say have caused more than a thousand deaths and displaced more than a million people. This Tuesday (24), Israeli bombings killed five people in the south of the country and another three in a residential area near Beirut. “My house was completely destroyed. There was nothing left, everything burned down,” Abbas Qasem, 55, told AFP. A neighboring apartment was targeted in an attack in Bchamoun, southeast of Beirut. “What did I do to deserve it? I’m just an ordinary person,” he added, crying, as did his wife, upon discovering the devastation in their apartment. In that specific attack, a four-year-old girl died and four other people were injured, according to the Ministry of Health. Bchamoun is not a Hezbollah stronghold. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to Israelis. Reproduction/X/@netanyahu

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