LONDON: In what it describes as a campaign of self-defense, Israel has seized approximately 1,000 sq. km of land in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria since October 2023 — about 5 percent of its territory within the 1949 borders, according to a recent analysis.
The new zones of control, rights groups say, have displaced millions of people, razed residential areas and destroyed swathes of farmland. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has described these territorial seizures as “deep security belts” beyond Israel’s borders.
In a video message in late March, he said Israeli forces now hold about half of Gaza, control territory in Syria from the summit of Mount Hermon to the Yarmouk basin and have carved out “a vast buffer zone” in Lebanon to prevent infiltration and missile attacks.
An Israeli military artillery unit drives into Lebanon after crossing the Israeli‑Lebanese border on May 27, 2026. (Reuters)
The posture has continued to harden.
