The IDF has seized 230 square miles of Lebanese territory, where extensive construction is underway – including a base far from the Israeli border. Negotiations with Lebanon resumed today
Haaretz
The IDF is entrenching itself deep in south Lebanon, according to information obtained by Haaretz, tours on the ground and recent satellite images.
The IDF has seized an area of about 600 square kilometers (230 square miles) in Lebanon, which in some places extends up to 12 kilometers from Israel’s border. Within this area, it has established at least seven new bases and carved out dozens of kilometers of logistical roads.
As in Gaza, the IDF is carrying out extensive infrastructure work in the territory it captured in Lebanon. Along the entire route from Israel’s border deep into south Lebanon, engineering vehicles, including excavators, road rollers and D9 armored bulldozers, are at work, some of which are operated by civilian contractors.
A senior army officer told Haaretz last month that the military had been instructed to prepare for a stay of up to a year in Lebanon.
To that end, it is carrying out construction and logistical work for the troops, most of whom are still housed in civilian buildings in villages across south Lebanon. Satellite images taken by Airbus Defence and Space and examined by Haaretz show significant changes throughout the area.
One of the areas where the IDF is operating is the town of Khiam, five kilometers north of Israel’s border. The new base is being built on the site of the former Khiam Prison. After fighting resumed in March, the IDF destroyed the prison building. Satellite images from June show engineering vehicles at the site, and by July a structured military base had emerged, complete with an earthen berm, trenches that allow soldiers to move under relative cover, and protective netting against explosive drones.
At the same time, the IDF has destroyed the overwhelming majority of buildings in Khiam. According to the military, about 20,000 people lived there before the fighting.
Another base has been built in the village of Maroun al-Ras, about two kilometers from Israel’s border. There too, the IDF destroyed the overwhelming majority of the village’s buildings.
The destruction is consistent with remarks made by Defense Minister Israel Katz at a Channel 14 conference, where he said Israel had destroyed 24 Shi’ite villages in south Lebanon. ‘We destroyed all the buildings, not house by house, not by incrimination. All these villages have been completely destroyed, 15,000-20,000 homes,’ he said.
In June, Katz said 200,000 Lebanese would not return to their homes. In April, a senior defense official told Haaretz that Israel sought to create a ‘scorched earth mindset’ in the area.
Haaretz examined recent satellite images from Planet Labs showing the wiping out of villages and towns across south Lebanon.
The IDF established five bases near the border after the cease-fire with Hezbollah in October 2024. In recent weeks, a soldier or civilian who had been at one of the bases published photographs revealing what one of the outposts looks like from the inside. Despite repeated reports over the years, the IDF has failed to stop such information leaks.
The remaining bases have been established since fighting resumed in March, deeper inside Lebanese territory.
In addition to the new bases, the IDF has taken control of several strategic positions in south Lebanon, including Beaufort Castle – a Crusader fortress overlooking the area near the city of Nabatieh – about 10 kilometers from the border. Defense Minister Katz has stressed that Israel will not withdraw from Beaufort. The IDF has also announced that it has taken control of the Christofani Ridge.
The IDF has also carved out 32 kilometers of access roads for logistical transport within the so-called Yellow Line, the northern boundary of the area Israel took over, according to a senior army officer.
In April, the IDF presented a map of the Yellow Line in Lebanon, and in the months since, it has expanded the area under its control as reflected in the updated map published by the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit in June. According to Haaretz’s calculations, the IDF now controls 602 square kilometers in Lebanon, while Defense Minister Katz has put the figure at 700 square kilometers.
At the end of June, Israel and Lebanon signed a U.S.-brokered agreement intended to pave the way to ‘end conflict between them, ensure the sovereignty and security of both countries, and establish peaceful neighborly relations.’ Under the agreement, the Lebanese army is to restore its sovereign authority throughout Lebanese territory, subject to the verified disarmament of Hezbollah and the dismantling of its infrastructure. This, in turn, is intended to allow the IDF to withdraw gradually from Lebanon. The agreement stipulated that implementation would begin with a pilot program at two locations near the Yellow Line.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that, under the agreement, Israel would maintain a security zone in Lebanon ‘until Hezbollah is disarmed and until no further threat to Israel is posed from Lebanon.’ Defense Minister Israel Katz said he had instructed the IDF ‘to build outposts in south Lebanon with the understanding that we will be there for 50 years.’
In response to the agreement, Hezbollah said the Lebanese government lacked legitimacy and that implementing the agreement would amount to a ‘gift to the Israeli enemy’ and lead to civil war.
Today (Tuesday), another round of U.S.-brokered talks between Israel and Lebanon begins in Rome. According to the U.S. State Department, the talks are intended ‘to advance the full implementation of the framework agreement.’
Responding to questions from Haaretz about the IDF’s entrenchment in south Lebanon, the State Department said the United States remains committed to the agreement’s full implementation and is helping coordinate between the Israeli and Lebanese armies.