Mannequins stand inside a clothing store with its storefront destroyed by an Israeli strike in Sour, southern Lebanon, on July 5, 2026. (Credit: Zohra Bensemra/Reuters)
BEIRUT — On a day marked by sporadic shelling and demolitions in south Lebanon, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said that Israeli forces “will continue to remain” in the area controlled by its army in Lebanon “until Hezbollah is disarmed.”
The “buffer zone,” which stretches across around 620 square kilometers and includes dozens of villages, “will be cleared of its residents,” and all Hezbollah infrastructure “above and below ground” will be demolished, Katz said. Ten days ago, he had claimed that around 600,000 “Shiites from villages in south Lebanon had fled.”
Reacting to comments by U.S. President Donald Trump, who said he believed that the Israelis would withdraw from south Lebanon, the Israeli minister said: “We did not ask anyone for permission to enter Lebanon, and we do not need anyone’s permission to remain there.” Stressing that Israel had established a “strong security zone” in the area, he recalled that it extends from the coastline in the west to Beaufort Castle and “the foothills of Mount Hermon in the east.”
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during a military ceremony that the Israeli army “is deployed in security zones in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria” and “will not withdraw from them,” according to remarks reported by The Jerusalem Post. “It is our right and our duty to protect the residents of Galilee [northern Israel] and the citizens of Israel from the jihadist enemies seeking to destroy the State of Israel,” he said.
Cedar reserve threatened near Beaufort Castle
Meanwhile, Arnoun's mayor, Fawaz Qatbay, told our south Lebanon correspondent that he was “concerned” that the Israeli army may carry out clearing operations in the Arnoun nature reserve, located at the foot of Beaufort Castle, which Israeli forces took control of in the Nabatieh district at the end of May. Established more than 20 years ago, this cedar reserve is one of the village’s main environmental and symbolic sites.
Qatbay said he observed Israeli machinery and bulldozers in the area today carrying out earthmoving work. He nevertheless said it was still too early to assess the extent of the damage or determine whether the works would affect the entire reserve or only part of it, for military reasons. He added that he had received photographs showing the beginning of the earthmoving operations, although they could not assess the scale of the works with accuracy.
The reserve contains 220 cedar trees, each named after a Lebanese Army soldier killed during the 2007 battles at the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared, which pitted the army against the jihadist group Fatah al-Islam for a month. The site therefore holds strong national and symbolic significance. It covers nearly 6 hectares and also includes a football field, as well as olive, eucalyptus and walnut trees groves.
Qatbay called on the relevant authorities to “intervene quickly and take the necessary steps to halt these works before they cause significant damage to the reserve, given its environmental and national importance for the residents of Arnoun and the region.”
Israeli army announces destruction of tunnels in Majdal Zoun
In Majdal Zoun, a village in the Sour district that was hit 10 days ago by a powerful explosion that “split the village in two,” according to a resident, the Israeli army announced Thursday that it had destroyed “two additional tunnels” with a combined length of “around 200 meters” and a depth of “around 20 meters,” without specifying when the operation took place.
The army said it had “discovered dozens of means of combat” there, as well as “a weapons depot containing mortar shells, launchers and RPG rockets” in the area. “The forces of the 91st Division continue their operations in the ‘terrorist village’ of Majdal Zoun, located inside the ‘security zone,’ in order to eliminate threats directed against the State of Israel,” the Israeli army's Arabic speaking spokesperson Avichay Adraee wrote.
Contacted by our south Lebanon correspondent, the village’s mayor, Youssef Shehimi, said he did not know when the footage of the explosion in Majdal Zoun, published by the Israeli army, was filmed. He added, however, that people familiar with the area had confirmed to him that the images most likely originated from the village.
On the ground, the Israeli army blew up houses in Khiam, in the Marjayoun district, on Thursday morning. Overnight, Israeli occupying forces carried out a large-scale demolition operation in the village of Haddatha (Bint Jbeil), our correspondent reported. Haddatha and Khiam are both located in the “buffer zone.” A drone also dropped two sound bombs on Byout al-Siyad, on the Sour district coastline, just north of the “Yellow Line.”
