Israel expanding presence in Lebanon, officials say, as BBC visits occupied areas

Southern Lebanon’s road alongside the Mediterranean, near Naqoura and the Israeli border, remains scenic but increasingly desolate, with abandoned crops and buildings reduced to ruins by Israeli aerial strikes. Close to the municipality of Naqoura, a Lebanese army checkpoint painted in the white‑and‑red of the national flag marks the last visible sign of state presence. Soldiers are positioned behind concrete walls, yet the road lies empty. A few minutes farther south, roughly twelve Israeli flags signal the beginning of occupied territory; entry is prohibited without Israeli authorization. This area constitutes the heartland of Lebanon’s Shia Muslim community, the primary source of Hezbollah’s support. It has endured three Israeli army invasions in wars against militant groups over the past two decades alone. The most recent offensive began in March, after Hezbollah launched rockets into Israel following the killing of the Iranian supreme leader, at the outset of the U.S.–Israel campaign against Iran. Last month a BBC team accompanied a humanitarian convoy of the United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon, Unifil—one of the few avenues for accessing territory under Israeli control. As in Gaza, Israel has flattened entire villages, and aerial strikes and demolitions have persisted even after a ceasefire was announced in June. The convoy, escorted by Finnish troops serving with Unifil, transported civilians to and from Christian villages adjacent to the border. Those communities were spared from Israeli attacks during the conflict, but now, with surrounding lands under occupation, they are cut off from the rest of the country. Access was granted via a deconfliction mechanism with the UN coordinated by the Israeli army. The land presently held by Israel amounts to about 5 % of Lebanese territory and, in some locations, extends 10 km (six miles) from the border. Traveling along the partition separating the two nations revealed work roads constructed by Israel after the invasion, alongside Israeli soldiers and residential buildings being used by them; some structures are covered in netting to shield them from Hezbollah’s explosive drones. Surveillance drones were heard overhead, and distant explosions suggested ongoing demolitions in occupied villages. During a visit to occupied southern Lebanon last month, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz stated he had ordered the army to “take each indispensable steps to hole for a semipermanent beingness in the area”. Israeli officials said their goal is to establish what they term a “security zone” to protect communities in northern Israel from rockets and drones launched by Hezbollah from southern Lebanon, as well as to deter a possible future incursion. According to Unifil, the Israeli army has set up four new bases in the invaded zones, raising the total number of such positions to nine. Israeli forces had remained at five points after the 2024 incursion into southern Lebanon, in contravention of the agreement that ended that confrontation. Unifil spokeswoman Kandice Ardiel remarked, “In the past months, we’ve seen the consolidation and fortification of Israeli positions, operation of protective infrastructure, and different engineering works.” She added, “We person [also] observed what look to be Israeli civilian unit carrying out demolition and engineering activities in enactment of military activities in southbound Lebanon.” Human rights organizations contend that certain Israeli actions in southern Lebanon constitute the deliberate demolition of civilian infrastructure, a potential war crime. Hundreds of thousands of Lebanese remain displaced, uncertain whether or when they might return. In reply to inquiries, the Israeli army asserted that the destroyed buildings had been used by Hezbollah for military purposes and that its operations comply with international law. It declined to answer further specific questions about its conduct in the occupied areas. In June, the United States and Iran announced a preliminary arrangement intended to end their hostilities, which included a cessation of hostilities in Lebanon. Since then, a Lebanese official reported that Lebanon’s armed forces have logged more than 5,000 violations of the arrangement by Israel, comprising aerial strikes, drone attacks, shelling, and near‑daily incursions of Israeli soldiers into Lebanese territory beyond the occupied zone, referred to as the alleged Yellow Line. As in Gaza, the Israeli military justifies some of its attacks in Lebanon as operations against what it describes as imminent threats. In many instances, however, the immediacy of those alleged threats is unclear, and there may be no danger at all. Hezbollah, designated a terrorist organization by the United Kingdom and the United States, has not launched attacks against Israel since the ceasefire took effect, though it has targeted Israeli troops