Inside Israeli-occupied southern Lebanon: Destruction, bases, and a permanent security zone

The drive on the highway by the Mediterranean in southern Lebanon, near the border with Israel, is scenic and, these days, desolate. Crops lie abandoned and buildings destroyed by Israeli air strikes, too many to count, are in ruins.

Near the town of Naqoura, a Lebanese military checkpoint, painted in the white-and-red colours of the national flag, is the last visible sign of the state's presence. Soldiers are positioned behind concrete walls, but the road is empty. A few minutes further south, around a dozen Israeli flags indicate the start of occupied territory. Unless authorised by Israel, no-one can enter.

This part of the country is the heartland of Lebanon's Shia Muslim community, from which Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militia and political party, gets most of its support. It has seen three invasions by the Israeli military in wars against the group in the last two decades alone. The most recent started in March, after Hezbollah fired rockets into Israel following the killing of the Iranian supreme leader, at the start of the US and Israel's war against Iran.

Last month, a BBC team joined a humanitarian mission of the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon, known as Unifil, which is one of the only ways to visit the area under Israeli control. There, as it did in Gaza, Israel has flattened entire villages, and air strikes and demolitions have continued even after a ceasefire was announced in June.

Led by Finnish troops who are part of Unifil, the convoy was escorting civilians to and from Christian villages near the border. Those communities were spared from Israel's attacks and invasion during the war and, with the surrounding areas now under occupation, are now cut off from the rest of the country. Our presence was allowed by the Israeli military through a deconfliction mechanism with the UN.

The strip of land currently controlled by Israel constitutes around 5% of Lebanese territory and, in some places, extends 10km (six miles) from the border. Driving along the wall that separates the two countries, we saw service roads built by Israel after the invasion, intense movement of Israeli soldiers and residential buildings that were being used by them. Some were covered in netting to protect them from Hezbollah's explosive drones.

We also heard Israeli surveillance drones in the sky and explosions in the distance, possibly from demolitions being carried out by Israel in villages that are under occupation.

In a visit to occupied southern Lebanon last month, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said he had instructed the military to "take all necessary steps to prepare for a long-term presence in the area". Israeli officials say their goal is to establish what they call a "security zone" to protect communities in northern Israel from rockets and drones that have been fired by Hezbollah from southern Lebanon, as well as a possible ground invasion.

According to Unifil, the Israeli military has established four new bases in the invaded areas, bringing the number of such positions to nine. Israeli forces had remained in five points after invading southern Lebanon during the previous war against Hezbollah in 2024, in violation of the deal that ended that conflict.

"In the past months, we've seen the consolidation and fortification of Israeli positions, construction of protective infrastructure, and other engineering works," Kandice Ardiel, a Unifil spokeswoman, said. "We have [also] observed what appear to be Israeli civilian personnel carrying out demolition and engineering activities in support of military activities in south Lebanon."

Human rights groups say some of Israel's actions in southern Lebanon amount to the deliberate destruction of civilian infrastructure, a possible war crime. Hundreds of thousands of Lebanese remain displaced, without knowing when, or if, they will be able to return.

In response to our questions, the Israeli military said the buildings that had been destroyed were used by Hezbollah for military purposes, and that it operated in accordance with international law. It did not respond to other specific questions about its actions in the occupied areas.

In June, the US and Iran announced a preliminary deal aimed at ending their conflict, which included a cessation of the violence in Lebanon. Since then, a Lebanese intelligence official told me, Lebanon's military has recorded more than 5,000 violations of the deal by Israel, including air strikes, drone attacks, shelling and near-daily incursions of Israeli soldiers into Lebanese territory beyond the area under occupation, the so-called Yellow Line.

As it does in Gaza, the Israeli military justifies some of its attacks in Lebanon as operations against what it describes as immediate threats. In many cases, however, it is not clear how immediate these alleged threats are or if there is any threat at all. Hezbollah, which is considered a terrorist organisation by countries including the UK and the US, has not carried out attacks against Israel since the ceasefire came into force, but has targeted Israeli troops operating inside Lebanese territory.

"[The Israelis] are expanding their presence [in Lebanon]. They've [also] been setting areas ablaze, demolishing houses while the bombing continues, despite the ceasefire," the Lebanese intelligence official said. "It's clear that they don't want anyone to go back [to those villages] in the coming year, or even years. This isn't only about Hezbollah. This is about preventing people from returning."

Israeli officials have conditioned a withdrawal from Lebanon on Hezbollah's disarmament, something the Lebanese government cannot deliver without the group's consent. Hezbollah, observers say, is still a significant military force despite the setbacks in the recent wars. Both countries have held direct talks that resulted in a framework agreement brokered by the US: Israel would pull out of certain areas, called "pilot zones", where Lebanese army soldiers would be deployed and Hezbollah's disarmament would be verified.

Hezbollah opposes the efforts – the group's leader, Naim Qassem, called them "surrender with humiliation" last week – and says any discussion about its weapons should only happen after a full Israeli withdrawal. Israel, for its part, has claimed that the Lebanese national military, which rejects the use of force against the group saying this could pit Lebanese against Lebanese, has not done enough.

The plan has seen no progress, and there is no expectation of any significant change before the Israeli election at the end of October.

"The idea of the 'pilot zones' seems to be dead until the context changes," a European diplomat familiar with the situation told me. "It seems we're heading to a Gaza-like situation. The Israelis are entrenching themselves... and are here to stay, for now."