Speculation is mounting that Israel is preparing to launch a major invasion of Lebanon. On Saturday, the US news site Axios reported that Israeli and US officials had confirmed Tel Aviv’s plan to “expand its ground operation”, with the aim of seizing all territory south of the Litani River and dismantling Hezbollah’s infrastructure.
The report said it could be Israel’s largest ground invasion of Lebanon since 2006, potentially drawing the country further into the escalating war with Iran.
“We are going to do what we did in Gaza,” a senior Israeli official said, referring to the flattening of buildings Israel said Hezbollah uses to store weapons and launch attacks.
An operation of that scale could lead to a prolonged Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon, the outlet said, adding that Beirut is alarmed that Hezbollah’s rocket attacks could devastate the country.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government sought to contain the escalation to stay focused on Iran until Wednesday, when Hezbollah launched more than 200 missiles in coordination with Iran, said the Israeli official.
“Before this attack, we were ready for a ceasefire in Lebanon, but after it, there is no way back from a massive operation,” one senior Israeli official said.
The Israeli military has maintained armoured and infantry divisions on the Lebanese border since the start of the Iran war and has conducted limited incursions in recent weeks. On Friday, it announced reinforcements and the mobilisation of additional reserves ahead of the expanded operation.
Subscribe to our newsletter and stay updated on the latest news and updates from around the Muslim world!
“The goal is to take over territory, push Hezbollah’s forces north and away from the border, and dismantle its military positions and weapons depots in the villages,” an official said.
The report doesn’t name the officials, however, Sky News and the BBC have previously reported that their correspondents on the ground in northern Israel have noticed a significant build up of military forces on the Lebanon border.
Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem said Friday that diplomatic efforts failed to protect Lebanese civilians and achieve sovereignty. “When the enemy threatens a ground invasion, we tell him: this is not a threat, but one of the traps you will fall into,” he said.
The Israeli military has issued evacuation orders across southern Lebanon and, for the first time, to towns north of the Litani River and Hezbollah’s Beirut stronghold. Around 800,000 Lebanese have been displaced and at least 773 have been killed, many civilians.
According to a US official, the Trump administration asked Israel not to bomb Beirut’s airport or other state infrastructure on which Israel agreed, but said other targets would be assessed case by case.
“We feel we have full US backing for this operation,” the official told Axios.
The source said the Trump administration hopes the negotiations, indicated by the Lebanese government, could form the basis for a broader deal formally ending the state of war between Israel and Lebanon, which has been ongoing since 1948.
Experts believe that an Israeli ground invasion would be costly as Hezbollah have prepared for a lengthy guerrilla-style fight. Hezbollah have achieved success in fighting Israel in past occupations of south Lebanon, with the group achieving success in ousting Israel in 2006.
Escalating war
The ongoing war between Israel and the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah has been growing more intense over the past week.
Hezbollah entered the Iran war on the side of Tehran after the US and Israel assassinated the Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Khamenei on Monday, March 2.
Israel had already been attacking Lebanon, in violation of the 2025 ceasefire deal agreed between the two following the start of hostilities over Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
Hezbollah are a Shia are faction which receives a vast amount of arms, money and support from Iran. Ayatollah Khamenei was considered the supreme religious leader for both Iranians and many Shia Lebanese, making his killing a red line issue for both Tehran and the Lebanese paramilitary group.
Hezbollah on Saturday said it carried out 14 attacks since dawn, targeting Israeli military positions, troops, and settlements in northern Israel.
Hezbollah said the operations were carried out in response to Israeli attacks targeting dozens of Lebanese cities, towns, and Beirut’s southern suburb.
At least 23 people, including 12 medical personnel, were killed in separate Israeli airstrikes across Lebanon since early Saturday, Lebanese authorities said.
Four people were killed in the latest strike after an Israeli attack targeted an apartment in Haret Saida in southern Lebanon, according to Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA).
UN experts: US/Israel attacks are criminal
UN human rights experts have said ongoing military assaults by the US and Israel on Iran and Lebanon violate international law and risk wider armed violence across the Middle East.
“The conflict risks engulfing the wider region in catastrophic armed violence and threatens to set yet another precedent of total impunity for some of the world’s strongest military powers,” the experts said in a statement on Thursday.
They said the “unprovoked” attack on Iran by the US and Israel, while negotiations were still ongoing, “is entirely illegal under international law and constitutes an act of aggression.”
“US and Israel should stop waging and expanding wars, and considering themselves as above international legality,” they added.
The experts also expressed alarm at the US demand for Iran’s “unconditional surrender,” warning it could lead to prolonged war and “enormous” human suffering.
They called for investigations into possible grave violations of international humanitarian law, citing attacks including a strike on a girls’ school in Iran in which at least 180 girls were killed.
The experts also warned that Iran’s retaliatory strikes against civilian targets violate international humanitarian law and must stop.
They urged an immediate ceasefire and called for an international peace conference to address the future of the region.
