Israeli army plans demolitions of villages in Lebanon’s south

TEL AVIV

Smoke rises from explosions during Israeli military operations in the Lebanese village of Taybeh on April 1, 2026.

The Israeli army will present a plan to the government for the demolition of homes in Lebanese villages and towns along the Israeli border to expand its occupation in southern Lebanon, Israeli media reported on April 3.

According to state television KAN, the Israeli army will present its plan regarding southern Lebanon this week.

In the area where Israel has forcibly displaced Lebanese people, the Israeli army aims to make the occupation permanent under the name of a “security zone” three kilometers deep inside Lebanon, similar to the “yellow line” model in the Gaza Strip.

According to the plan, all villages and towns in southern Lebanon will be demolished and Lebanese people will not be allowed to return there again.

The Israeli army will be deployed along what is described as the “third line,” located 8 kilometers (5 miles) from the border.

The report also claimed that the Tel Aviv administration and the military are evaluating that, if attacks against Iran come to an end, more focus will be placed on Hezbollah and severing the Hezbollah-Iran connection.

The report also said that disarming Hezbollah is not among the Israeli army’s objectives, though it was previously claimed that this could be done.

It is now believed that doing so would require “going through every village in Lebanon one by one,” according to the report.

Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war on March 2 after Iran-backed Hezbollah launched rockets at Israel to avenge the U.S.-Israeli attack that killed Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Lebanon's Health Ministry said on April 2 that 1,345 people were killed and 4,040 wounded since the start of the war, including 1,129 men, 91 women and 125 children.

The ministry said the toll also included 53 healthcare workers.

More than one million people have been displaced since the country was drawn into the war.

International Organization for Migration chief Amy Pope warned that the prospects for prolonged mass displacement in Lebanon, where Israel and Hezbollah are at war, were "very alarming.”

"I think those prospects are very alarming because you look right now at the level of destruction that's happening and... the further destruction that has been threatened," she said when asked about the possibility of prolonged mass displacement.

"There are parts of the south that are being completely flattened... even if the war ends tomorrow, that destruction remains and there needs to be a rebuilding," she said, noting that reconstruction would require funding, resources and peace.

"Unless we start to see those things come into place, that means that people will be displaced now for who knows how long," she added.

Authorities say more than 136,000 people are staying in collective shelters including schools and stadiums, while some people are sleeping on the streets.