Israeli military operations across Lebanon have intensified in the latest escalation, with Israel expanding its buffer zone in southern Lebanon and launching fresh strikes. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the expansion, saying the move is aimed at preventing Hezbollah infiltration and strengthening security along Israel’s northern frontier. Israeli forces also reported killing Hezbollah fighters allegedly planting explosives near the border, as artillery and airstrikes targeted multiple southern Lebanese towns.
Lebanon’s health authorities say at least 17 people were killed in strikes in areas including Kfartebnit and Deir al-Zahrani, while the broader death toll from the ongoing campaign since early March crossed 1189, with thousands more wounded. Displacement is also rising rapidly, with over one million people forced from their homes as evacuation warnings continue across southern Lebanon and parts of Beirut’s southern suburbs. Hundreds of mourners gathered at a cemetery south of Beirut on Sunday to attend the funeral of journalists Ali Shoeib, Fatima Ftouni, and Mohammed Ftouni, who were killed in an Israeli strike a day earlier.
In the latest military development, Israeli forces carried out a rare operation linked to Mount Hermon, conducting cross-border activity from the Syrian side into southern Lebanon. The Israeli military says the move is aimed at preventing Hezbollah entrenchment and targeting militant infrastructure in the mountainous frontier region. Mount Hermon is a strategic high ground where the borders of Lebanon, Syria and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights converge, making it a critical surveillance and military position. Israeli jets were also reported breaking the sound barrier over Beirut and the Bekaa Valley, as clashes between Hezbollah fighters and Israeli forces continued along the southern border. Lebanese officials say rescue teams, journalists and emergency responders have increasingly come under fire in follow-up strikes, raising international concerns.
Mount Hermon has long held strategic military importance due to its elevation and its location overlooking southern Lebanon, southwestern Syria and northern Israel. Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Six-Day War and formally annexed it via the 1981 Golan Heights Law, though this remains unrecognized internationally except by the US till 2019.Following Bashar al-Assad’s fall in December 2024, Israel moved into the UN-monitored buffer zone separating the Golan from Syria, citing security threats from the power vacuum. This included advances toward Mount Hermon and Quneitra, covering over 600 sq km, with settlement expansion plans announced to double the population.
