Back to Israeli occupation of south Lebanon?
More recently, Defence Minister Israel Katz said the military "will establish itself in a security zone inside Lebanon ... and will maintain security control over the entire area up to the Litani" river, around 30 kilometres (20 miles) from the border.
First responders search for survivors at the site of an overnight Israeli airstrike that targeted a house in the southern Lebanese village of Zibdine, on April 2, 2026. (AFP)
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BEIRUT - A month into Israel's war against Hezbollah, invading Israeli troops are gradually advancing in south Lebanon, raising fears for the area's fate following the last Israeli occupation that lasted nearly two decades.
Since war erupted last month, Israeli officials have said Israel intends to establish a "security zone" inside Lebanon.
More recently, Defence Minister Israel Katz said the military "will establish itself in a security zone inside Lebanon ... and will maintain security control over the entire area up to the Litani" river, around 30 kilometres (20 miles) from the border.
What is happening on the ground, and how far could Israel go?
What's happening in south Lebanon?
The Israeli military previously issued unprecedented evacuation orders for swathes of the country's south, where Iran-backed Hezbollah holds sway.
An Israeli military source told AFP that four army divisions are currently deployed across the country's northern border.
A Western military source in south Lebanon said "the Israelis are advancing one axis at a time" and destroying border villages as they go.
The source told AFP on condition of anonymity that Israeli forces had taken the strategic town of Khiam, located along the eastern stretch of the shared border.
Hezbollah, which drew Lebanon into the Middle East war last month with rocket fire towards Israel, has been claiming repeated attacks on Israeli troops in south Lebanon, where Israel's military says 10 soldiers have been killed in combat.
The Iran-backed group is not halting Israeli troops' advance "but is seeking symbolic victories such as the destruction of Merkava tanks", the Western military source said.
Lebanon's army has announced troop "repositioning and redeployment" in parts of the south where Israel is advancing.
A Lebanese military source said Israeli soldiers have advanced up to 10 kilometres (six miles) in some places, and Lebanon's army, which has limited means, fears it will be targeted or encircled.
Israeli fire has killed one on-duty Lebanese soldier.
United Nations peacekeepers deployed in south Lebanon have been powerless to stop the fighting, with three of their troops also killed.
What does Israel want?
Katz has said Israel would control south Lebanon up to the Litani, and vowed that hundreds of thousands of south Lebanon residents will not return until northern Israel's security is guaranteed.
Lebanese Defence Minister Michel Menassa this week denounced "a clear intention to impose a new occupation of Lebanese territory".
UN aid chief Tom Fletcher has warned that south Lebanon could become another occupied territory in the Middle East.
But Eyal Zisser, a Lebanon expert at Tel Aviv University, cautioned against taking Katz's announcements at face value.
"He's good at making statements, but you always have to check first of all if it is in full agreement" with what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says, he told AFP's Jerusalem bureau.
Military analyst and retired Lebanese army general Khalil Helou told AFP that Hezbollah has "recruited people from southern towns" for decades, giving the group "local power" that Israel fears could be further exploited if southerners return.
New occupation?
Israel has previously tried to create a buffer zone in southern Lebanon.
Following a first invasion in 1978, Israeli troops returned four years later, entering Lebanon all the way to Beirut to drive out Palestinian militias.
Hezbollah was born in response to the 1982 invasion.
Israel withdrew gradually but kept an area up to 20 kilometres deep inside Lebanese territory until 2000, when it pulled out under persistent pressure from Hezbollah.
Lebanese are increasingly concerned about a return to a similar scenario.
In its last war with Hezbollah and even after a November 2024 ceasefire, Israeli troops damaged or destroyed swathes of border villages and towns through strikes, controlled demolitions and the wrecking of agricultural areas.
Zisser said Israel maintaining control of the area south of the Litani was technically feasible.
"But you need to make a decision and you need to decide how to do it, (whether) to occupy the entire territory and establish yourself there" or not, he said.
Wood meanwhile cautioned that an occupation would create "new security threats" for Israel.
"If Israel denies people the right to return to their ancestral homes, then armed resistance groups will emerge or will continue to take up this struggle," he said.