Israeli forces are now operating from nearly 30 military positions across south Lebanon, including eight fortified bases, according to the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon (Unifil), revealing Israel’s growing entrenchment in Lebanese territory.
Speaking to The National, Unifil spokeswoman Kandice Ardiel said: “Before the escalation in March of this year, the [Israeli army] had a presence in five fortified positions close to and north of the Blue Line. This year, we have observed three new fortified positions north of the Blue Line.” She was referring to the UN boundary that divides Lebanon from Israel and the occupied Golan Heights.
The older bases were established during the Hezbollah-Israel conflict in 2024. The three new bases – in Khiam, Maroun El Ras and Maiss El Jabal – were created after Hezbollah and Israel resumed fighting amid the wider US-Iran war. On March 2, following more than a year of Israeli ceasefire violations in south Lebanon, Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel in retaliation for the assassination of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, triggering another Israeli military invasion and the depopulation of much of south Lebanon.
These bases are fortified with purpose-built walls and earthen berms, with observation posts erected and access roads bulldozed through the terrain.
Unifil said it had also observed about 20 other ad hoc Israeli military positions within the so-called security buffer zone Israel maintains across the south, which extends up to 10 kilometres into Lebanese territory. Unlike the bases, these are positions that troops move in and out of, often using existing infrastructure such as homes or buildings.
Ms Ardiel said peacekeepers continued to observe the Israeli military's presence “in dozens of locations, though it is unclear how long they remain in any given place”.
The proliferation of bases and outposts indicates an increasingly entrenched Israeli military presence across the security zone, even as US-brokered negotiations seek to secure an Israeli withdrawal from the south, under which Hezbollah would disarm and the Lebanese army assume control.
At the same time, Israel has expanded the boundaries of the zone itself in recent weeks, advancing incrementally beyond its self-established “yellow line” through a range of tactics that include depopulation, demolition and cutting off roads using remote-operated bulldozers, as The National has previously reported.
Controlling communities
Israel’s occupation has become more tangible to the few residents still permitted to live inside the buffer zone, while the shifting boundaries of the security zone are increasingly bringing Israeli and Lebanese troops into close proximity.
Last week, Lebanese troops were forced to withdraw from a recently established checkpoint at a northern entrance to Deir Mimas – in an area understood to be outside Israel’s zone of occupation – after Israeli forces launched stun grenades in their vicinity.
“A heightened state of alert” between both sides ensued when Lebanese reinforcements arrived at the checkpoint, according to an army statement.
A security source said the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) checkpoint was a “temporary point established to ensure the safety of residents to work their agricultural land” and was established “with prior co-ordination from the MCG4L” – a US-facilitated body of co-ordination between Israel and Lebanon. “It seems there was some sort of miscommunication between the MC and the Israelis,” the Lebanese source said.
“We don’t have the exact co-ordinates of the yellow line but apparently that point was inside it,” the source said, before adding wryly: “The co-ordinates of the yellow line appear to be changing by the day.”
Israeli forces have raided homes on the outskirts of the village in the days since the incident, interrogating residents and confiscating hunting rifles, villagers told The National.
“They told the LAF that the checkpoint was inside the security zone,” a resident of Deir Mimas told The National on condition of anonymity. Deir Mimas residents were hesitant to speak to the media by phone, fearing Israeli retribution. “The problem is no one knows where exactly the yellow line it and they [Israeli forces] can put it wherever they want.”
Nine days before the Deir Mimas standoff, Qassem Al Qadiri, the mayor of Kfarshouba, was briefly detained and interrogated on the outskirts of his town, which also lies inside the Israeli occupation zone. His phone was confiscated before he was eventually released.
When Mr Al Qadiri told his Israeli interrogator the village’s water system was damaged and that residents were unable to fix it due to Israeli restrictions, he was told, “‘Who did you ask when you wanted to fix it?’”
“I told him, ‘We asked through the Mechanism.'”
“Mechanism” is the colloquial term for the US-facilitated trilateral body.
“He said, ‘No. You should have asked us. Whatever you need, all your needs can be provided. You need food supplies? You need money? What do you need? Whatever the village needs, we can provide it. Just co-operate with us!’”
The exchange appeared to show Israeli forces attempting to assert direct authority over communities and residents’ access to basic services.
“They were asking us to collaborate with them,” Mr Al Qadiri said. “I answered him, ‘We’re a local authority. We are part of the [Lebanese] state and therefore we cannot deal with anyone outside the framework of the state.’”
He sighed bitterly. “We don’t know where their line is any more. There are no clear boundaries.”
