Israeli escalation in southern Lebanon has entered a new phase after the Israeli army announced operations north of the Litani River, as heavy vehicles crossed toward the outskirts of eastern Zawtar.

The move signaled a shift from limited strikes to an effort to impose new facts on the ground north of the river.

Israeli Army Radio said forces from the Egoz Unit and the Golani Reconnaissance Unit carried out an operation lasting about a week on the outskirts of eastern Zawtar, after heavy military vehicles crossed the Litani.

It said the operation aimed to reach areas from which Hezbollah had fired rockets, mortar shells, and drones at Israeli forces.

Israel’s Channel 12 said the operation lasted 10 days and sought to reach the launch zone used by Hezbollah rockets and drones. Channel 14 reported engineering work above the Litani that could allow armored and infantry forces to cross in the future if needed.

The developments came with an Israeli media push. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posted a video backing the soldiers involved, saying: “We are proud of our heroic fighters, the best in the world, who continue to intensify operations in Lebanon.”

Israel also widened evacuation warnings in the western Bekaa. At 4 a.m., residents of Sohmor were told to evacuate before heavy strikes began.

Later in the morning, Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee twice issued urgent warnings to residents of Arzoun, Tayr Debba, Bazouriyeh, and Housh, telling them to leave and move 1,000 meters away toward open areas.

Zawtar, a military node north of the Litani

A local source in southern Lebanon told Asharq Al-Awsat that Zawtar is “one of the most sensitive points for Israel, given its geographic location and proximity to the border.” The source said it is “the closest point north of the Litani to the Israeli border compared with other areas, and is also exposed on the ground to drone activity.”

The source said Zawtar is “a strategic node” linking western Zawtar, Yohmor, and Arnoun. “Any control over it would effectively mean the surrounding villages fall militarily,” the source said, adding that Israel regards the area as “a key zone for Hezbollah drone activity” because it is “geographically open and lacks natural obstacles” that limit drone movement.

Israel seeks to recreate the border strip, but major expansion remains costly

Retired Brig. Gen. Bassam Yassin told Asharq Al-Awsat that Israel’s announcement that its forces had crossed the Litani toward Zawtar “cannot be separated from the nature of the military zone where Israeli forces have been operating for weeks.”

He said “the clashes had effectively begun about a week ago in Wadi Raj,” the corridor linking the Litani to Zawtar, while eastern and western Zawtar and Yohmor fall “within what is known as the area under the yellow line, meaning within the scope of Israeli military operations.”

Yassin said Zawtar’s importance for Israel “stems from its strategic location,” because it protects the Israeli presence along the Taybeh, Deir Seryan axis and gives Israel fire control over wide areas north of the Litani.

“If Israel manages to entrench its presence on the heights of Beaufort Castle, Yohmor and Zawtar, it would be able to place the areas of Nabatieh, Kfar Tebnit, Nabatieh al-Fawqa and Nabatieh al-Tahta under direct fire pressure, given the elevated nature of the area,” he said.

He said the scene “closely resembles a reproduction of the border strip that existed before 2000,” when Arnoun, Yohmor, Beaufort Castle (Qal’at al-Shaqif), and Zawtar were under direct Israeli military pressure, and towns such as Kfar Tebnit were almost emptied of residents because they were constantly targeted by fire.

Yassin said Israel “has already announced the expansion of its ground operations,” but military estimates suggest the move may remain limited to areas Israel considers necessary for its security. North of the Litani, he said, is Hezbollah’s second line of defense, and any broad advance there would mean “a harsh and costly confrontation.”

“If Israel is able to consolidate its control in this area, this could later open the door to a wider expansion toward the Zahrani, which would effectively mean turning the area stretching from the Zahrani to the international border into an isolated military strip. But I do not believe the Israeli decision has reached that point yet,” he said.

Yassin tied any major shift to the fate of political negotiations.

“If negotiations fail and Israel receives an international green light, then we can speak of an entirely different phase,” he said.

What about the western Bekaa?

In the western Bekaa, Yassin said Israel is pursuing a policy of “pressure through fire, warnings and gradual displacement.”

He said strikes are focused on areas believed to be used for launching drones or rockets, while other areas are sometimes bombed without warning when direct field targets are available.

“The warnings that targeted Sohmor, Zellaya, and their surroundings fall within an attempt to empty the area of residents, because evacuating villages facilitates any later military movement and increases pressure on Hezbollah’s support base,” he said.

Yassin said current indicators do not suggest Israel intends to launch a wide ground operation in the western Bekaa or north of the Litani unless negotiations collapse completely.

“I believe Israel currently has room to maneuver to reach some of the points it has identified within the yellow zone, but it does not have sufficient capacity to expand its ground occupation on a large scale. That is why it is currently focusing on threats, shelling, and emptying areas of their residents,” he said.

Military escalation and direct targeting of civil defense

On the ground, Israeli military escalation continued in the south, where civil defense personnel in Nabatieh had been targeted. The General Directorate of Civil Defense said two members of its Nabatieh regional center were killed and a third was wounded in an Israeli strike while they were trying to rescue someone wounded in an earlier Israeli strike in Nabatieh.

Israeli strikes also hit several southern towns, including Hinniyeh, Khirbet Selm, eastern Zawtar, and Nabatieh, while Mansouri and Majdal Zoun came under shelling.

Three people from Aadchit were killed in a strike on a car in Doueir while transporting a wounded person. A Syrian man was killed, and his wife was wounded when a motorcycle was targeted in Tayr Debba. A drone caused injuries in Mansouri. An archaeological area near an army position in Ras al-Ain was also hit.

Israeli strikes on Nabatieh, Jibsheet, and Kafra caused deaths.

Hezbollah said Tuesday it had attacked two Merkava tanks in Bayyada and Khirbet al-Manara, a gathering of soldiers near Deir Seryan, and a soldier with a drone opposite Houla.