Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Sunday that Israel would capture additional territory in southern Lebanon to expand a security zone on Israel’s northern border, as the Israel Defense Forces expanded its ground operation against the Hezbollah terror group.

In a video statement from the IDF Northern Command Headquarters in Safed, Netanyahu said he had ordered the military to “further expand the existing security zone” in Lebanon as a means to “fundamentally change the situation” in northern Israel, where communities have been subject to weeks of near-constant cross-border missile and drone fire, amid renewed fighting with Hezbollah.

Expanding the security zone, he said, would allow Israel to “definitively thwart the [Hezbollah] invasion threat and to push anti-tank missile fire away from our border.”

According to military officials, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir has defined three lines of defense in southern Lebanon as part of the new ground operation. They include the first line of Lebanese border villages, where the IDF has operated to remove the threat of a Hezbollah infiltration attack; the second and third lines of villages, from which Hezbollah can launch anti-tank missiles on northern Israel; and the Litani River, located some 20-30 kilometers (some 12-18 miles) from the border in most areas, from which Hezbollah has been carrying out rocket attacks on Israel.

Unlike the previous round of fighting against the Iran-backed terror group, which began after it joined Hamas in firing rockets at Israel on October 8, 2023, Netanyahu boasted that “instead of them surprising us, we are surprising them.”

In Lebanon, in Gaza, and in Iran, he said, “We are the side that is acting, we are the side that is attacking, we are the side that has the initiative, and we are deep in their territory.”

To achieve the premier’s stated order for an expanded buffer zone, the IDF’s 146th Division has in recent days advanced deeper into the western sector of southern Lebanon.

In that time, the division has reached strategic positions from which the military says Hezbollah could launch attacks on Israel, including the Ras al-Bayada headland, south of Tyre, located around eight kilometers (five miles) north of Israel’s border.

Netanyahu, in his video address, acknowledged that Hezbollah “still has residual capability to launch rockets” at Israel, but said that he had discussed removing that threat with IDF commanders.

The premier also touched on Israel’s operations against Iran, asserting that there were now “visible cracks in the terror regime in Tehran.”

“Iran is not the same Iran,” he said. “Hezbollah is not the same Hezbollah, and Hamas is not the same Hamas.”

Netanyahu made similar claims of monumental achievements against Israel’s enemies during previous rounds of conflict.

The Hezbollah terror group sparked the ongoing Israeli offensive when it waded into the US-Israeli war with Iran on March 2, firing rockets at northern Israel. Since then, it has continued to fire hundreds of rockets per day at Israeli targets, according to the IDF. However, recently, the vast majority of daily rocket fire has been directed at Israeli forces operating in southern Lebanon, with only a few dozen rockets crossing the border into Israel.

Hezbollah operatives killed

The IDF said on Sunday that several Hezbollah operatives were killed amid recent ground operations in southern Lebanon, and published footage of one of the incidents.

In the incident, several Hezbollah gunmen were identified by the 869th Combat Intelligence Collection Unit entering a building in southern Lebanon, and a short while later, an Israeli Air Force drone struck and killed them, the military said.

כוחות המילואים של צוות הקרב החטיבתי 769 בפיקוד אוגדה 91 מבצעים פעילות קרקעית ממוקדת להרחבת מרחב האבטחה בדרום לבנון. במהלך פעילות במרחב, כוחות האיסוף של יחידה 869 זיהו מספר מחבלים חמושים נכנסים למבנה במרחב.הכוחות הכווינו כלי טיס של חיל האוויר שתקף את המבנה אליו נכנסו המחבלים… pic.twitter.com/rtKTaiqL7D — צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) March 29, 2026

כוחות המילואים של צוות הקרב החטיבתי 769 בפיקוד אוגדה 91 מבצעים פעילות קרקעית ממוקדת להרחבת מרחב האבטחה בדרום לבנון.

במהלך פעילות במרחב, כוחות האיסוף של יחידה 869 זיהו מספר מחבלים חמושים נכנסים למבנה במרחב.הכוחות הכווינו כלי טיס של חיל האוויר שתקף את המבנה אליו נכנסו המחבלים… pic.twitter.com/rtKTaiqL7D

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) March 29, 2026

In another incident, the IDF said troops of the Givati Brigade spotted several Hezbollah operatives who attempted to plant explosive devices and launch mortars at troops.

“The soldiers on the ground opened fire and eliminated the terrorists,” the military said, adding that no troops were injured.

The Givati soldiers also located a cache of weapons, including dozens of anti-tank missiles, grenades, and other explosives, the army added.

תיעוד מפעילות כוחות חטיבת גבעתי בדרום לבנון: חוסלו מחבלי חיזבאללה שניסו להפעיל מטען ואותרו עשרות טילי נ״ט Advertisement if(typeof rgb_remove_toi_dfp_banner != "function" || !rgb_remove_toi_dfp_banner("#336x280_Middle_3")){ window.tude = window.tude || { cmd: [] }; tude.cmd.push(function() { if(navigator.userAgent.indexOf("rgbmedia-app") > -1){ tude.setDeviceType("mobile"); } tude.refreshAdsViaDivMappings([ { divId: '336x280_Middle_3', baseDivId: '336x280_Middle_3', } ]); }); } הלילה, לוחמי גבעתי בפיקוד אוגדה 91 זיהו מחבלים מארגון הטרור חיזבאללה שניסו להניח מטענים ולשגר פצצות מרגמה לעבר הכוחות.בסגירת מעגל מהירה, הלוחמים בשטח ירו לעברם וחיסלו את… pic.twitter.com/7bF0Ecgjp9 — צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) March 29, 2026

תיעוד מפעילות כוחות חטיבת גבעתי בדרום לבנון: חוסלו מחבלי חיזבאללה שניסו להפעיל מטען ואותרו עשרות טילי נ״ט

הלילה, לוחמי גבעתי בפיקוד אוגדה 91 זיהו מחבלים מארגון הטרור חיזבאללה שניסו להניח מטענים ולשגר פצצות מרגמה לעבר הכוחות.בסגירת מעגל מהירה, הלוחמים בשטח ירו לעברם וחיסלו את… pic.twitter.com/7bF0Ecgjp9

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) March 29, 2026

Separately, the military said the Israeli Air Force destroyed a primed Hezbollah missile launcher, armed and ready for an attack, in Lebanon’s eastern Beqaa Valley overnight.

It said the Air Force also hit Hezbollah weapon depots and buildings where members of the terror group were operating.

It said it also conducted strikes in Beirut against Hezbollah infrastructure.

Israeli strikes and ground operations have killed more than ​1,200 people ⁠in Lebanon, including children, women, and medical personnel, according to the Lebanese health ministry. It does not otherwise distinguish between civilians ​and ⁠combatants.

Five IDF soldiers have been killed in southern Lebanon amid fighting against Hezbollah in the same period. Two civilians have also been killed by Hezbollah rockets, and an Israeli civilian was mistakenly killed in the north by Israeli artillery shelling.

Agencies contributed to this report.

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1 Iranian attack on Saudi air base heavily damages key US surveillance aircraft

2 IDF says almost done targeting ‘critical’ Iranian military sites as waves of strikes hit Tehran

3 Pentagon said prepping weeks-long ground operation in Iran, short of full invasion

4 Several hurt as Iranian missile hits Jerusalem-area town; Hezbollah continues to strike north

5 IDF soldier Moshe Yitzchak Katz, 22, from Connecticut, killed in south Lebanon

6 21 arrested in Tel Aviv, Haifa during mounting protests against Iran war

7 In Israel’s shelters, an ‘underground’ entertainment scene is born under missile fire

8 Iran shuts down Tehran coffee shop chain over ‘suspicious’ cup designs

2026 Israel-Hezbollah conflict

IDF Israel Defense Forces

IAF Israeli Air Force

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