Israel Declares Permanent Security Zone to the Litani, Severs Hezbollah's Southern Lebanon Lifeline

Israeli Defense Minister Katz formally declared on Day 25 that the IDF will maintain a security zone in southern Lebanon extending to the Litani River until the Hezbollah threat is eliminated — echoing Israel's pre-2000 occupation zone but explicitly extending it to the Litani (approximately 30 km north of the border). All bridges over the Litani used by Hezbollah to move fighters and weapons from the Bekaa Valley into southern Lebanon have been destroyed. The IDF controls remaining bridges and the zone. Hundreds of thousands of displaced Lebanese residents will not be permitted to return south of the Litani. 'Where there is terror and missiles, there will be no homes and no residents, and the IDF will be inside,' Katz stated. IDF troops on the Lebanese side of Mount Dov also located a Hezbollah tunnel shaft and demolished Hezbollah structures. This is Israel's clearest post-war territorial declaration of the conflict.

Key facts

• •IDF will hold security zone to the Litani River — ~30 km north of Israel-Lebanon border
• •All Litani River bridges used by Hezbollah confirmed destroyed by IDF
• •Lebanese displaced north will not return south of Litani until Hezbollah threat eliminated
• •'Where there is terror and missiles, there will be no homes and no residents' — Katz
• •Hezbollah tunnel shaft found by IDF troops on Lebanese side of Mount Dov
• •Mirrors Israel's pre-2000 security zone but expanded to the Litani line
• •IDF controls remaining bridges and operates throughout the declared zone