On Sunday, March 22, Israeli Chief of Staff Lt Gen Eyal Zamir approved plans "to advance the targeted ground operations and strikes" against Hezbollah in Lebanon. Defense Minister Israel Katz ordered the destruction of Litani river crossings used by Hezbollah for reinforcements. An Israeli air strike damaged the Qasmiye bridge near Tyre — a civilian route. Katz also ordered the demolition of Lebanese border villages, using, in his words, the same method as Gaza.
This is the third active front Israel is fighting simultaneously: Iran (since February 28), Lebanon (current escalation), and the West Bank (covered separately by Ranked). A nominal ceasefire exists in Gaza — attacks have continued there despite it.
More than 1,000 people have been killed in Lebanon since the current escalation began, according to the Lebanese health ministry. More than 1 million people have been displaced.
What's Been Ordered and What's Been Struck
The Israeli military's Sunday announcement is operationally significant for what it specifies. Two distinct orders were issued:
Order 1 — Litani river crossings: Katz ordered destruction of the bridges over the Litani river that Hezbollah uses to move reinforcements north-to-south. The Litani runs approximately 30km from the Israel-Lebanon border. Isolating south Lebanon from north Lebanon by destroying its bridge infrastructure would physically cut off Hezbollah's heartland — the Shia communities of the south — from the rest of the country. The bridges are also used by civilians. The Qasmiye bridge near Tyre was struck Sunday.
Order 2 — Border village demolition: Israeli forces were ordered to demolish homes in Lebanese villages along the border to create security zones. Katz explicitly said this would follow the Gaza model — destroy buildings, force evacuations, establish buffer zones.
Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun — a former army chief who came to office specifically as a figure capable of stabilizing the country — responded with a formal statement: the Israeli strikes constituted "a prelude to a ground invasion," amounting to "a policy of collective punishment against civilians," potentially part of "suspicious schemes" to expand Israel's territorial presence in Lebanon.
Aoun had previously ruled out using Lebanese Armed Forces against Hezbollah, warning that doing so could exacerbate sectarian divisions. Lebanon's government has vowed to disarm Hezbollah but Hezbollah has refused to discuss its weapons.
Why Hezbollah Re-Entered the Conflict
The mechanism connecting the Iran war to Lebanon's current situation runs through a single event: the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during US-Israeli strikes on Iran after February 28.
Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel in retaliation for Khamenei's death. Israel had been conducting near-daily strikes on Lebanon despite the November 2024 ceasefire that was supposed to have ended the previous round of fighting. Hezbollah's rocket attacks gave Israel the trigger for the current escalation; Israel's pre-existing strikes had been eroding the ceasefire from the other direction.
The November 2024 ceasefire is now fully collapsed.
Hezbollah: What It Is and What It Controls
Hezbollah was founded in 1982 in direct response to Israel's first Lebanon invasion and occupation during the Lebanese Civil War. It is simultaneously a militia, a political party represented in Lebanon's parliament, a social services provider (running hospitals, schools, and welfare programs), and a designated terrorist organization under US, EU, and UK law.
Iran is Hezbollah's primary patron — providing funding estimated at $700M–$1B per year (pre-war estimates), weapons, training, and strategic direction. The relationship is the most visible link in the "Axis of Resistance" — Iran's network of regional proxies that also includes Hamas in Gaza, the Houthis in Yemen, and various Iraqi militia groups.
Hezbollah's military capacity is significant and well-documented by Western intelligence:
Hezbollah controls significant territory in southern Lebanon — the area Israel is now moving to isolate. It operates as a state-within-a-state there, providing services the Lebanese government cannot or does not provide. This is why Lebanon's president cannot simply order Hezbollah disarmed — the political and social infrastructure would collapse in parallel.
The Historical Record: Prior Israel-Lebanon Wars
Israel has invaded Lebanon four times since 1978. The pattern across all four operations is consistent in ways that matter for understanding what "prolonged operation" is likely to mean:
1978 — Operation Litani: Israel invaded to push PLO forces north of the Litani river (the same river whose bridges are being destroyed now). Result: UN Security Council Resolution 425 calling for Israeli withdrawal; creation of UNIFIL (UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon, still present today). Israel withdrew but PLO returned.
1982 — First Lebanon War: Israel invaded to destroy PLO infrastructure, ended up occupying Beirut. The war killed an estimated 15,000–20,000 people, mostly Lebanese civilians. It also produced the Sabra and Shatila massacre, carried out by Lebanese Christian militia allies while Israeli forces controlled the area. Israel occupied southern Lebanon for 18 years afterward, withdrawing in 2000. This occupation is what created Hezbollah — the resistance movement that grew to fill the vacuum.
2006 — Second Lebanon War: Israel launched a major air and ground campaign after Hezbollah kidnapped two Israeli soldiers. 34 days of fighting. Approximately 1,200 Lebanese killed (majority civilians), 165 Israelis killed. Ended with UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which called for Hezbollah disarmament and UNIFIL expansion. Hezbollah was not disarmed. It rebuilt its arsenal to a larger scale than before the war.
2023–2024 — Gaza war spillover: Hezbollah conducted near-daily rocket and drone attacks on northern Israel in solidarity with Hamas after October 7, 2023. Israel conducted air and limited ground operations in response. The November 2024 ceasefire ended that round — now collapsed.
The Gaza Model — What That Means in Practice
Defense Minister Katz's explicit reference to the Gaza model is a specific operational framing. In Gaza, the Israeli military's campaign involved:
- Forced population evacuation from combat zones
- Systematic destruction of buildings in designated areas
- Creation of security buffer zones inside Gaza's territory
- Sustained ground operations lasting 18+ months
- 71,000+ killed per Gaza health ministry
Applying that model to Lebanese border villages means demolishing civilian homes, forcing residents out, and establishing permanent or semi-permanent Israeli military control of a strip of Lebanese territory. Lebanon's president characterized this as a potential territorial expansion — "suspicious schemes to pursue an expansion of Israel's presence in Lebanese territory."
UNIFIL — the UN peacekeeping force created after the 1978 invasion — still operates in southern Lebanon with approximately 10,000 troops from 50 countries. Their presence and mandate will become relevant as ground operations expand.
What Comes Next
The IDF has described this as a "prolonged operation" — language that does not suggest a quick in-and-out raid. The bridge destruction suggests isolation of southern Lebanon is the near-term tactical goal. Whether that is the prelude to a ground occupation, as Lebanon's president believes, or a more limited operation to create a buffer zone, is not confirmed.
Simultaneously: Iran's war, the Hormuz ultimatum expiring Monday, and West Bank settler violence are all active. Lebanon adds a fourth simultaneous conflict front for Israel — and introduces a new set of parties: UNIFIL, Lebanon's government, and the broader international humanitarian infrastructure watching a million displaced people.
The same Litani river that Israel tried to clear in 1978 is being targeted again in 2026. The logic is the same. The history of what follows is also the same.