PM says Israel to expand south Lebanon buffer zone as IDF pushes deeper into territory
In visit to Northern Command, Netanyahu promises to ‘definitively thwart’ Hezbollah threat on border; terror group continues to launch rockets as IDF carries out strikes
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Sunday that Israel would capture additional territory in southern Lebanon to expand a security zone on Israel’s northern border, as the Israel Defense Forces expanded its ground operation against the Hezbollah terror group.
In a video statement from the IDF Northern Command Headquarters in Safed, Netanyahu said he had ordered the military to “further expand the existing security zone” in Lebanon as a means to “fundamentally change the situation” in northern Israel, where communities have been subject to weeks of near-constant cross-border missile and drone fire, amid renewed fighting with Hezbollah.
Expanding the security zone, he said, would allow Israel to “definitively thwart the [Hezbollah] invasion threat and to push anti-tank missile fire away from our border.”
According to military officials, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir has defined three lines of defense in southern Lebanon as part of the new ground operation.
They include the first line of Lebanese border villages, where the IDF has operated to remove the threat of a Hezbollah infiltration attack; the second and third lines of villages, from which Hezbollah can launch anti-tank missiles on northern Israel; and the Litani River, located some 20-30 kilometers (some 12-18 miles) from the border in most areas, from which Hezbollah has been carrying out rocket attacks on Israel.
Unlike the previous round of fighting against the Iran-backed terror group, which began after it joined Hamas in firing rockets at Israel on October 8, 2023, Netanyahu boasted that “instead of them surprising us, we are surprising them.”
In Lebanon, in Gaza, and in Iran, he said, “We are the side that is acting, we are the side that is attacking, we are the side that has the initiative, and we are deep in their territory.”
Netanyahu also met with mayors of northern communities on Sunday evening, during which they demanded physical protection and tax breaks amid the frequent attacks from Hezbollah. Multiple attendees harshly criticized the premier afterward, saying he made them wait for hours and that the meeting didn’t result in any tangible progress.
To achieve the premier’s stated order for an expanded buffer zone, the IDF’s 146th Division has in recent days advanced deeper into the western sector of southern Lebanon.
In that time, the division has reached strategic positions from which the military says Hezbollah could launch attacks on Israel, including the Ras al-Bayada headland, south of Tyre, located around eight kilometers (five miles) north of Israel’s border.
Netanyahu, in his video address, acknowledged that Hezbollah “still has residual capability to launch rockets” at Israel, but said that he had discussed removing that threat with IDF commanders.
The premier also touched on Israel’s operations against Iran, asserting that there were now “visible cracks in the terror regime in Tehran.”
“Iran is not the same Iran,” he said. “Hezbollah is not the same Hezbollah, and Hamas is not the same Hamas.”
Netanyahu made similar claims of monumental achievements against Israel’s enemies during previous rounds of conflict.
The Hezbollah terror group sparked the ongoing Israeli offensive when it waded into the US-Israeli war with Iran on March 2, firing rockets at northern Israel. Since then, it has continued to fire hundreds of rockets per day at Israeli targets, according to the IDF. However, recently, the vast majority of daily rocket fire has been directed at Israeli forces operating in southern Lebanon, with only a few dozen rockets crossing the border into Israel.
Hezbollah operatives killed
The IDF said on Sunday that several Hezbollah operatives were killed amid recent ground operations in southern Lebanon, and published footage of one of the incidents.
In the incident, several Hezbollah gunmen were identified by the 869th Combat Intelligence Collection Unit entering a building in southern Lebanon, and a short while later, an Israeli Air Force drone struck and killed them, the military said.
כוחות המילואים של צוות הקרב החטיבתי 769 בפיקוד אוגדה 91 מבצעים פעילות קרקעית ממוקדת להרחבת מרחב האבטחה בדרום לבנון.
במהלך פעילות במרחב, כוחות האיסוף של יחידה 869 זיהו מספר מחבלים חמושים נכנסים למבנה במרחב.
הכוחות הכווינו כלי טיס של חיל האוויר שתקף את המבנה אליו נכנסו המחבלים… pic.twitter.com/rtKTaiqL7D— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) March 29, 2026
In another incident, the IDF said troops of the Givati Brigade spotted several Hezbollah operatives who attempted to plant explosive devices and launch mortars at troops.
“The soldiers on the ground opened fire and eliminated the terrorists,” the military said, adding that no troops were injured.
The Givati soldiers also located a cache of weapons, including dozens of anti-tank missiles, grenades, and other explosives, the army added.
תיעוד מפעילות כוחות חטיבת גבעתי בדרום לבנון: חוסלו מחבלי חיזבאללה שניסו להפעיל מטען ואותרו עשרות טילי נ״ט
הלילה, לוחמי גבעתי בפיקוד אוגדה 91 זיהו מחבלים מארגון הטרור חיזבאללה שניסו להניח מטענים ולשגר פצצות מרגמה לעבר הכוחות.
בסגירת מעגל מהירה, הלוחמים בשטח ירו לעברם וחיסלו את… pic.twitter.com/7bF0Ecgjp9— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) March 29, 2026
Separately, the military said the Israeli Air Force destroyed a primed Hezbollah missile launcher, armed and ready for an attack, in Lebanon’s eastern Beqaa Valley overnight.
It said the Air Force also hit Hezbollah weapon depots and buildings where members of the terror group were operating.
It said it also conducted strikes in Beirut against Hezbollah infrastructure.
Israeli strikes and ground operations have killed more than 1,200 people in Lebanon, including children, women, and medical personnel, according to the Lebanese health ministry. It does not otherwise distinguish between civilians and combatants.
Five IDF soldiers have been killed in southern Lebanon amid fighting against Hezbollah in the same period. Two civilians have also been killed by Hezbollah rockets, and an Israeli civilian was mistakenly killed in the north by Israeli artillery shelling.
Mayors slam Netanyahu after meeting: A ‘waste of time’
The mayors of several northern communities severely criticized Netanyahu after the meeting with him. Sone of the criticism from officials in the north has surrounded concern that the IDF will not be allowed to “finish the job” in Lebanon.
During the meeting, the prime minister was presented with demands for increased physical protection for towns and tax benefits for residents of that embattled region.
According to the Israel Hayom daily, multiple council chiefs expressed anger at repeated delays in the meeting, saying they had been made to wait for hours and that the meeting did not produce any significant developments and was a “waste of time.”
Metula Regional Council chief David Azoulay, who skipped the meeting, told the Walla news site that he has “heard enough from [Netanyahu], I no longer believe the talk and declarations.”
“We want the Israeli government and the cabinet to include the disarmament and total dissolution of Hezbollah, both militarily and politically, within the goals of the war in Lebanon. This is for the benefit of the entire country’s citizens, and specifically for the residents of Metula and the Galilee. Until that happens, I don’t want to hear from them, and they shouldn’t come to me. We want only one thing: security,” he said.
Council chiefs in the north have recently fiercely criticized the government over what they call an inadequate effort to protect local citizens, and have protested a recent decision to cut programs intended to strengthen frontline communities.
Agencies contributed to this report.
The Times of Israel Community.