Netanyahu Orders Expansion of Lebanon ‘Security Zone’ to Neutralize Hezbollah

JERUSALEM – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Sunday that he has formally instructed the Israeli military to “further expand” its existing security buffer zone in southern Lebanon. The move, aimed at permanently altering the northern border’s security architecture, marks a significant escalation in Israel’s ongoing campaign against Hezbollah.

​Speaking in a video statement following a situational assessment at the IDF Northern Command in Safed, Netanyahu framed the expansion as a tactical necessity to protect Israeli civilians from cross-border threats.

​“In Lebanon, I have just ordered the military to further expand the existing security zone,” the Prime Minister stated. “This is intended to definitively neutralize the threat of invasion and to keep anti-tank missile fire away from our border.”

​A Strategy of Buffer Zones

​The announcement comes as Israeli ground forces continue their push toward the strategic Litani River. While Netanyahu did not provide specific geographic coordinates for the new boundaries, the directive aligns with a broader Israeli strategy to establish three distinct security zones: in Gaza, along the Syrian border near Mount Hermon, and now deeper into southern Lebanon.

​Netanyahu asserted that the “Gaza model” of territorial control is being replicated to ensure that militant groups can no longer threaten Israeli sovereignty. “We are the side that is acting, we are the side that is attacking, we are the side that is initiating,” he said, boasting that Israel’s operations have created “visible cracks” in the Iranian government and its regional proxies.

​‘Defeated Enemies’

​Despite the Prime Minister’s confident rhetoric, he acknowledged that Hezbollah retains “residual capabilities” to launch rocket fire into northern Israel. However, he maintained that the group, along with Hamas, has been fundamentally degraded.

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​”Iran is no longer the same Iran, Hezbollah is no longer the same Hezbollah, and Hamas is no longer the same Hamas,” Netanyahu said. “These are no longer terrorist armies threatening our existence—they are defeated enemies, fighting for their own survival.”

​Rising Human Cost

​The expansion of the military zone follows a weekend of intense bloodshed. On Saturday, Israeli strikes reportedly killed nine paramedics and three journalists in southern Lebanon. According to the World Health Organization, at least 51 Lebanese health workers have been killed since the current phase of the conflict began on March 2.

​International observers have expressed concern over the “buffer zone” strategy, noting that such territories are not recognized under international law. In Lebanon, the push toward the Litani River has already displaced thousands more civilians, adding to a humanitarian crisis that has gripped the region since the conflict’s latest flare-up in late February.

​As the IDF prepares to widen its footprint, Netanyahu remained resolute: “We are determined, we are fighting, and with God’s help—we are winning.”