JERUSALEM/BEIRUT – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that Israel is creating an expanded buffer zone in southern Lebanon.
The goal is to push Hezbollah forces further from the border, Netanyahu said while speaking to heads of northern municipalities near the Lebanon border.
“The issue of dismantling Hezbollah is something we are currently dealing with,” he said. “We are determined to do everything to fundamentally change the situation in Lebanon.”
His remarks signal a possible long-term military presence in southern Lebanon. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Tuesday forces will occupy southern Lebanon up to the Litani River, a “security zone.” Earlier this week, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called for establishing the Litani River as Israel’s new border.
Earlier in March, Lebanese leaders publicly proposed negotiations and accepted a French-drafted framework as a basis for talks with Israel. Israel has not officially responded.
Israel has bombed bridges over the Litani River, destroyed homes and carried out large-scale airstrikes in southern Lebanon, displacing hundreds of thousands of Lebanese people.
The deadly cross-border fighting resumed on March 2 after Hezbollah launched rockets in retaliation for Israel’s killing of Iran’s then Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Netanyahu also suggested that a ceasefire with Iran, recently suggested by US President Donald Trump, may not be imminent, saying Israel’s military campaign against Iran “is still in full swing, contrary to what is being reported in the media.”
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Meanwhile, at least 14 people were killed, and 47 others wounded in Israeli airstrikes across southern Lebanon, according to Lebanese official sources, as strikes targeted multiple areas overnight and into early Wednesday morning.
The Emergency Operations Center at the Ministry of Public Health said an Israeli airstrike on the town of Adloun in the Sidon district killed four people and wounded one, while another strike on an apartment in the Mieh Mieh refugee camp killed two people and wounded four others. A separate strike on the Al-‘Alam roundabout in the city of Tyre wounded 24 people. Another airstrike on the town of Habboush in the Nabatieh district killed three people and wounded 18 others.
An Israeli airstrike on a house located between the towns of Zawtar al-Sharqiya and Zawtar al-Gharbiya shortly after midnight killed two people. In a separate attack, a house in Batouliyeh was struck, resulting in one death and one injury.
The Lebanese Ministry of Public Health added that two paramedics were killed in an Israeli airstrike that targeted their motorcycle as they were heading to carry out a rescue mission in the city of Nabatieh, raising the number of paramedics killed since March 2 to 42.
Israeli Merkava tanks
Hezbollah announced on Wednesday that it had destroyed eight Israeli Merkava tanks in the village of Taybeh in southern Lebanon as its clashes with the Israeli forces continued along the border.
Hezbollah later reported that it had targeted the forces assigned to recover destroyed vehicles and evacuate the wounded, hitting them with rocket salvos and artillery shells.
Hezbollah leader calls for unity
Naim Qassem, secretary-general of Hezbollah, said on Wednesday that the group will continue what he described as a “defensive battle” against Israel, urging national unity and rejecting calls to disarm amid ongoing hostilities.
“We are in a defensive battle for Lebanon and its citizens, and the responsibility of confronting the aggression is a national responsibility for everyone — the government, the army, the people, and all political forces,” Qassem said, according to al-Manar news website.
In a statement, Qassem warned of what he called a “dangerous American-Israeli project” targeting Lebanon and the region, adding that Israeli attacks had continued for more than a year despite a ceasefire agreement reached on Nov 27, 2024.
He said Hezbollah faced a choice between “surrender and giving up land, dignity and sovereignty” or “inevitable confrontation and resistance,” stressing that the group was prepared and would continue fighting.
He also rejected negotiations with Israel amid the ongoing attacks and criticized calls for exclusive state control over weapons, saying such measures would weaken Lebanon and serve Israel’s interests.