Israel's army has gradually expanded its so-called security zone despite a ceasefire with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, crossing its self-established “yellow line” into at least three villages in recent weeks, The National has found.
More than a dozen elected officials and residents in southern Lebanese villages who spoke to The National reported Israeli tanks and bulldozers crossing into areas beyond the boundary between its security zone – between five and 10 kilometres deep – and land under Lebanese control.
The movements have established a new de facto reality in which areas outside the line become inaccessible to Lebanese residents, while Israeli forces can operate freely. That reality does not require a constant presence, according to military expert and retired Brig Gen Mounir Shehadeh: no permanent stationing of Israeli troops or tanks is necessary for the army to maintain operational control.
The result, he explained, is “a mobile buffer zone rather than a fixed one” – one that can be expanded de facto at any time.
The latest conflict began on March 2, when Hezbollah fired missiles at Israel in support of Tehran during the US-Iran war, following 14 months of near-daily ceasefire violations by Israel's army, which refused to withdraw fully from Lebanon. The response was devastating, with Israel's attacks killing more than 4,000 people and erasing dozens of villages.
Neighbourhood depopulated
Last week, a neighbourhood in Haris, about 10km from the border, was depopulated and physically cut off from the rest of the village by an Israeli operation in what appears to be one of the clearest cases of expansion.
“It happened without warning. Everyone was caught by surprise by the Israelis down there,” said Wissam Moussa, whose home was destroyed in the operation.
His wife, three children and their domestic worker were trapped in their property for hours as an armoured Israeli bulldozer, accompanied by a tank, descended on their neighbourhood of Arayesh, advancing around 500 metres beyond the “yellow line” and tearing up the road connecting it to the rest of the village.
The other neighbourhood inhabitants fled, but the Moussa family said they were paralysed by panic as the bulldozer passed their home while Wissam, who works out of town, attempted to calm them by phone. Eventually, after the bulldozer left, Wissam’s brother extracted them, risking his life in the process.
Shortly afterwards, the bulldozer returned carrying a large container. It placed the box on the Moussa family’s property while residents watched from the hill above and filmed the scene. “It was intentional,” Wissam said. “Our house was the only one that had people still inside and that’s where they put the box.”
The Israeli military appears to have used remotely-operated D9-armoured bulldozers – also used in Gaza – to plant an explosive in the box, according to analysis of footage by a weapons expert commissioned by The National.
“That looks like it is remotely operated,” said Trevor Ball, a former US Army explosive ordnance disposal technician. “In addition to the cameras, it looks like it has a Starlink antenna.” The bulldozer was accompanied by an Israeli tank parked some distance away, indicating the operator was controlling the vehicle remotely.
The Moussas issued a press statement requesting the Lebanese Armed Forces sweep their property and defuse any booby traps. Local representatives also co-ordinated with the army but no authorities came.
At about 3am, the container was detonated, destroying Wissam’s house.
The Moussa family have not returned to the neighbourhood since, nor have dozens of other families who lived there. Israeli forces have maintained de facto control of the neighbourhood, using surveillance and firepower to prevent residents from returning.
“‘Leave here.’ That’s the message they’re sending,” said Hassan Moussa, an elected local official and Wissam’s cousin. “The violations were sporadic at first but they’ve developed little by little, getting closer and closer, to make people leave,” he added.
The Israeli army did not respond to The National's request for comment on the incident.
On Saturday, The National observed the LAF establish a checkpoint at the place where an Israeli bulldozer had stopped, effectively cutting off Hay Al Arayesh from the rest of the village.
According to Brig Gen Shehadeh, the new checkpoint means the Israeli-occupied zone has effectively expanded. Israeli forces have “established a new reality on the ground” by crossing the boundary, destroying the road and preventing residents from accessing their homes, he added.
Tanks at the edge
It is a similar story in neighbouring Aita Al Jabal, which also borders the Israeli-occupied areas within the “security zone”. According to deputy mayor Hani Saleh, Israeli forces have incrementally expanded operations into Aita from the south-east and south-west, from adjacent Hadatha and Beit Yahoun.
Tanks routinely advance around 300 metres into the village before withdrawing, patrolling the outskirts, detonating homes, setting wildfires and raining gunfire at night, he said.
In Aita's south-east, bordering Hadatha, the LAF established another military point. Like in Haris, locals cannot access the part of Aita Al Jabal beyond the Lebanese army checkpoint, Mr Saleh said.
On Friday, residents said tanks had entered the outskirts of the residential village yet again, approaching the LAF checkpoint and withdrawing hours before The National visited.
“They’re doing this – getting closer – little by little, trying to make us afraid so we leave,” said Tala Dib, 20, a resident who spends much of her days documenting Israeli movements near her village. She often hides behind a tree in her garden, filming tanks as they pass by. On Saturday, amid reports of wildfires set by Israeli forces between Aita Al Jabal and Hadatha, Ms Dib shared a video of flames licking homes in a residential area of Aita al Jabal.
“They want Aita to be emptied so that they can enter,” she told The National.
The ceasefire violations have escalated “day by day”, she said, “until suddenly we found that their tanks started coming down. We weren’t expecting them to come this close, because we’re not on the yellow line.”
The Israeli military's advance into Haris and Aita Al Jabal followed their takeover of neighbouring Hadatha. Its geographic position is strategically significant, according to Brig Gen Shehadeh, with Israeli forces able to move freely and use it as a launching point; it functions as “a pressure point on Haris and Aita Al Jabal, representing an expansion of Israel's operational depth”.
Most of the destruction of Hadatha occurred after the ceasefire: Acled, a non-profit group specialising in conflict data, recorded 45 of 48 property destruction events in the village taking place after the ceasefire was agreed to in June.
Village gone
The village of Al Mansouri, in the Tyre district, is the most blatant example of Israel’s deepening footprint beyond the yellow line.
After the ceasefire, less than half of the community was within Israel’s security zone. About 130 displaced families returned to the part of Al Mansouri outside Israeli control, according to the mayor, Haidar Mdayhli.
But on August 5 – even as US-brokered negotiations between Lebanese and Israeli delegations were taking place in Rome – the Israeli military launched strikes across south Lebanon and ordered residents of Al Mansouri to leave. It said it was in response to what it described as a Hezbollah violation of the ceasefire.
Attempts by the Lebanese army to enter have been rebuffed. On August 7, the LAF tried to enter Al Mansouri to clear rubble blocking the road and allow residents to return but an Israeli strike hit an LAF bulldozer, wounding a soldier. Israel's military escalation “prevents the Lebanese Armed Forces from entering any part of the town at present”, an LAF source told The National.
Since then, Israeli tanks have routinely crossed the yellow line to conduct patrols and demolitions, according to Mr Mdayhli, although they have not established a permanent military point. “They’re working and moving around. There’s nothing to stop them,” he said.
Here, too, the LAF has established a checkpoint on the road leading to the village, marking the de facto point beyond which Israel has military control.
Like many Al Mansouri residents, Mr Mdayhli was displaced to Tyre, where he watches Israeli movement from a relative's balcony. He estimates around 80 per cent of the village is destroyed, with at least half the destruction taking place in the weeks following the forced displacement order.
“My parents’ old house, the house we grew up in, is gone,” he said. “My brother’s house is gone. My other brother’s son’s house is gone. My house is so badly damaged it might as well be gone. The village is gone.”
