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The Israeli military published for the first time a map of its new deployment line inside Lebanon on Sunday (April 19, 2026), bringing dozens of mostly abandoned Lebanese villages under its control, days after a ceasefire with Hezbollah took effect.
There was no immediate comment from Lebanese officials or from Iran-backed Hezbollah. Israel and Lebanon agreed on Thursday to a U.S.-backed ceasefire in fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. The deal, which followed the first direct talks in decades between Israel and Lebanon on April 14, is meant to enable broader U.S.-Iran negotiations but with Israeli forces maintaining positions deep inside southern Lebanon.
Stretching east to west, the deployment line on the map runs 5-10 km deep from the border into Lebanese territory, where Israel has said that it plans to create a so-called buffer zone. Israeli forces have destroyed Lebanese villages in the area, saying their aim is to protect northern Israeli towns from Hezbollah attacks. It has created buffer zones in Syria and in Gaza, where it controls more than half the enclave.
“Five divisions, alongside Israeli Navy forces, are operating simultaneously south of the forward defence line in southern Lebanon in order to dismantle Hezbollah terror infrastructure sites and to prevent direct threats to communities in northern Israel,” the military said in a statement accompanying the map.
Asked whether people who fled the Israeli strikes would be allowed to return to their homes, the Israeli military declined to comment. — Reuters
