Israel has intensified demolitions and evacuations in southern Lebanon despite ceasefires, flattening border villages as officials discuss creating a long-term “security zone” toward the Litani River.

Israel continues large-scale demolition and evacuation operations across villages in southern Lebanon months after the war first erupted in October 2023, with destruction intensifying even after multiple ceasefire agreements.

Since fighting resumed in March 2026 before another ceasefire took effect in April, the Israeli army has expanded operations along the border region. Bulldozers and engineering teams have flattened homes, neighborhoods, and entire villages, while roads and infrastructure have also been heavily damaged.

Israeli officials have openly linked the campaign to plans for establishing a long-term “security zone” inside Lebanese territory. According to statements reported by Israeli media, villages near the border are being dismantled because they are viewed as Hezbollah infrastructure.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz previously said Israel aims to establish a buffer zone extending toward the Litani River, similar to security belts created in parts of Gaza through widespread demolition near border areas. He also stated that displaced Lebanese residents would not be allowed to return until security for northern Israel is guaranteed.

Dozens of towns across southern Lebanon have suffered widespread destruction affecting homes, schools, hospitals, shops, places of worship, and public infrastructure. In many villages, demolition work has continued even after airstrikes ended, with bulldozers clearing rubble and flattening remaining structures.

Israel has also targeted bridges and major roads linking southern Lebanon to the rest of the country, including key crossings over the Litani River, further isolating the region and complicating civilian movement and aid access.

Israeli officials have described the continued destruction and evacuation of villages as part of broader pressure on Hezbollah, while also signaling an expansion of Israeli military freedom of movement inside southern Lebanon despite the ceasefire.

As demolition operations and evacuation orders continue to expand, entire border villages have been transformed into devastated and nearly empty areas, reflecting a broader effort to reshape the border region and impose a new reality that could remain long after the war ends.

**Update: 2 cosponsors added on 5/12/2026 bringing the total to 145 cosponsors:

• Cosponsor: 05/12/2026: Rep. Titus, Dina [D-NV-1]
• Cosponsor: 05/12/2026: Rep. Neal, Richard E. [D-MA-1]

Introduced by Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY-12) on 4/28/2025, H.R.3045 would authorize the imposition of sanctions with respect to any foreign person endangering U.S. national security and undermining prospects for a two-state solution by committing illegal violent acts.

The extremist settler violence, forced displacement of people and villages, and property destruction - has reached intolerable levels and constitutes a serious threat to the peace, security, and stability of the West Bank and Gaza, Israel, and the broader Middle East region.

Sanctions include asset blocking, making persons ineligible for a visa or other documentation to enter the U,S., and revoking existing visas.

I want to call attention to SB 87 in the Ohio Legislature that seeks to expand the definition of antisemitism. It has already passed the Ohio Senate and on its way to the Ohio House. The primary sponsor is Senator Terry Johnson (614) 466-8082 (cosponsors below).

The bill seeks to define antisemitism for specific purposes and to expand the offense of ethnic intimidation to include the offenses of riot and aggravated riot committed by reason of the race, color, religion, or national origin of another person or group of persons. Please take a look at the "Contemporary examples of antisemitism."

(26)(a) "Antisemitism" means a perception of Jewish people, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jewish people, directed toward Jewish individuals and non-Jewish individuals or their property or toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities in either rhetorical or physical form.

(b) Contemporary examples of antisemitism include all the following: 

(i) Calling for, aiding, or justifying the killing or harming of Jewish people in the name of a radical ideology or an extremist view of religion; 

(ii) Making mendacious, dehumanizing, demonizing, or stereotypical allegations about Jewish people as such or the power of Jewish people as a collective, including the myth about a world Jewish conspiracy or of Jewish people controlling the media, economy, government, or other societal institutions; 

(iii) Accusing Jewish people of being responsible for real or imagined wrongdoing committed by a single Jewish individual or group, or for acts committed by non-Jewish people; 

(iv) Denying the fact, scope, mechanisms, or intentionality of the genocide of the Jewish people at the hands of national socialist Germany and its supporters and accomplices during World War II; 

(v) Accusing Jewish people, or the state of Israel, of inventing or exaggerating the genocide that occurred in Europe during World War II; 

(vi) Accusing Jewish citizens of being more loyal to Israel, or to the alleged priorities of Jewish people worldwide, than to the interests of their own nations;

(vii) Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, including claims that the existence of a state of Israel is a racist endeavor; 

(viii) Applying double standards by requiring of Israel a behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation; 

(ix) Using the symbols and images associated with classic antisemitism, including claims of Jewish people killing Jesus of Nazareth or blood libel, to characterize Israel or Israelis; 

(x) Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazi regime; 

(xi) Holding Jewish people collectively responsible for actions of the state of Israel.  

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Senators (Click on link for contact info)

Jerry C. Cirino

Theresa Gavarone

Stephen A. Huffman

George F. Lang

Nathan H. Manning

Sandra O'Brien

Bill Reineke

Michele Reynolds

Kristina D. Roegner

Mark Romanchuk

Tim Schaffer

Casey Weinstein

Shane Wilkin

Steve Wilson