Netanyahu orders expansion of security zone in southern Lebanon

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced an expansion of military operations in southern Lebanon, citing the ongoing rocket attacks carried out by Hezbollah as the primary reason behind the move, according to Reuters.

"I have now instructed to further expand the existing security zone in order to finally thwart the threat of invasion and to push the anti-tank missile fire away from our border," Netanyahu said in a video statement delivered from Israel’s Northern Command.

Israeli authorities had already indicated last week that they were working to extend a so-called “buffer zone” reaching as far as the Litani River.

However, it remains unclear whether Netanyahu’s latest directive refers strictly to that previously announced zone or signals a broader plan involving the occupation of additional territory deeper inside southern Lebanon.

No further operational details have been disclosed by the prime minister’s office, and the proposal has yet to be formally reviewed or debated within Israel’s security cabinet.

Earlier, Defence Minister Israel Katz stated that Israeli forces would "control the remaining bridges and the security zone up to the Litani," referring to the strategic river that flows into the Mediterranean Sea roughly 30 kilometers north of Israel’s northern border.

The escalation follows a broader regional confrontation, with Hezbollah—backed by Iran—initiating rocket fire into Israeli territory after the United States and Israel conducted air strikes targeting Iranian positions.

According to sources familiar with internal Hezbollah figures who spoke to Reuters, more than 400 fighters from the group have been killed since it launched the initial attacks marking the beginning of a new phase of conflict with Israel on March 2.

By Jeyhun Aghazada