Israel’s defense minister reiterated plans to keep control of parts of southern Lebanon after the current operation there ends, saying the military will “position itself in a security zone” inside the country and “maintain security control” over the entire area up to the Litani River, some 15 to 20 miles north of the Israeli border.
Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a video statement on Tuesday that Israeli forces are currently operating in southern Israel, where they “are entering the villages with great force, using all means, clearing them of Hezbollah militants, destroying the terrorist infrastructure established there and the weapons, and demolishing houses that are effectively used as Hezbollah outposts.”
“At the end of the operation, the IDF will position itself in a security zone inside Lebanon—along the defensive line against anti-tank missiles—and will maintain security control over the entire area up to the Litani River,” he added.
Katz also reiterated that the more than 600,000 residents of southern Lebanon who were evacuated would be “completely prohibited south of the Litani until the safety and security of northern Israeli residents is ensured, and all houses in villages near the border in Lebanon will be destroyed – according to the Rafah and Beit Hanoun model in Gaza – in order to permanently remove border-area threats from the residents of the north.”
Katz has previously compared the plan Israel has for southern Lebanon with what it did in Rafah and Beit Hanoun in Gaza. The two large cities were mostly destroyed in Israel’s war on Hamas and the IDF has maintained presence there even after the ceasefire.
