Israel announced on Tuesday that it would seize a « advanced defence line » from the border to the Litani River in southern Lebanon, while Iran threatened the Hebrew state with « heavy » missile and drone strikes if attacks against Lebanese and Palestinian civilians continued. These two statements mark a new rise in tension on the 25th day of war in the Middle East.
Israel says it wants to control space to the Litani
Israel’s Defense Minister, Israel Katz, said that the Israeli army was conducting operations inside Lebanese territory to seize an « advanced defence line » from the border to the Litani River, some 30 kilometres north.
In a video broadcast by his office, he claimed that Israeli forces « manoeuvring inside Lebanese territory » to establish this line. He also assured that the five bridges on the Litani River, accused by Israel of serving in the passage of Hezbollah fighters and weapons, had been destroyed.
According to him, the Israeli army now intends to control the other bridges as well as « the security space to the Litani ». This statement confirms a desire to extend Israeli military control over a large strip of southern Lebanon, in a context of intensified fighting with Hezbollah.
Israel Katz also claimed that the displaced people from southern Lebanon to the north could not return south of the Litani until the security of the people of northern Israel was assured. This sentence adds to the Israeli announcement, explicitly linking military developments on the ground to the question of the return of Lebanese civilians to their communities.
Tehran threatens Israel with « heavy » strikes
A few hours later, Iran reacted with the voice of the Revolutionary Guardians. In a statement, the Islamic Republic’s ideological army warned that Israel would be targeted by « heavy missile and drone strikes » if attacks against civilians in Lebanon and Palestine continued.
The Guardians accused Israel of prosecuting « crimes » against Lebanese and Palestinian civilian populations. They warned that the Israeli army would become a direct target if this policy continued.
This threat comes as Israel increases the number of strikes in Lebanon against Hezbollah, Tehran’s major ally in the region. It stresses the risk of an even greater enlargement of the conflict, as military statements take on a tougher tone on both sides.
A new phase in regional climbing
These two successive announcements illustrate a new stage in the ongoing war. On the one hand, Israel intends to push its military apparatus to the Litani and to control a security zone in South Lebanon on a sustainable basis. On the other hand, Iran poses more openly in support of Lebanon and the Palestinians, brandishing the threat of a direct response against Israel.
The Litani now appears as one of the central points of this sequence. For Israel, this is a security threshold. For Lebanon, it marks an increasingly deep military penetration line. For Iran and its allies, this Israeli advance feeds the discourse of aggression that will justify an increased response.
In the immediate future, these statements do not only reflect a communication war. They accompany a concrete evolution of the ground, between the destruction of infrastructure, the displacement of populations and the threat of an extension of the conflict to a wider regional scale.
