On March 29, 2026, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered a major expansion of the ground invasion of southern Lebanon, instructing the military to extend the "security buffer zone" deeper into Lebanese territory toward the Litani River. Speaking from the IDF Northern Command, Netanyahu stated: "I have just instructed to further expand the existing security buffer zone. We are determined to fundamentally change the situation in the north." The expansion aimed to replicate the "Gaza model" of occupation in southern Lebanon.
The ground invasion had begun on March 16, when Israel deployed a second division into southern Lebanon following two weeks of aerial bombardment triggered by Hezbollah's entry into the Iran war on March 2. By late March, Israeli troops had advanced to within a few hundred meters of the Litani River in some sectors, reaching a tributary south of Qantara on the eastern front near al-Muhaysibat. UNIFIL peacekeepers reported Israeli soldiers entering multiple towns including Kfar Kila, Houla, Kfar Shouba, Yaroun, and Khiam.
Defense Minister Israel Katz declared that the IDF would demolish Lebanese border villages and destroy all Litani River crossings, and stated that Shia civilians displaced from south of the Litani would not be allowed to return until Israel was satisfied its northern residents were safe. The invasion displaced more than one million people -- roughly a fifth of Lebanon's population -- in what the UN called one of the biggest and fastest displacement crises in Lebanon's history. Lebanon's Health Ministry reported over 1,100 killed since March 2, including 51 health workers confirmed dead by the WHO.
The Lebanon invasion represented a parallel war running alongside the US-Iran conflict, with Israel seizing the opportunity created by Operation Epic Fury to pursue long-standing strategic objectives against Hezbollah. The escalation vindicated warnings that striking Iran would trigger cascading regional conflicts. While the US focused on Iran's nuclear and military infrastructure, Israel was conducting what amounted to a full-scale territorial conquest of southern Lebanon, with no clear exit strategy and mounting civilian casualties that drew international condemnation.