ISRAEL-LEBANON BORDER: Israeli leaders describe the territory now occupied in Lebanon as a war gain, but some military veterans see the so-called “buffer zone” as a deadly replay of a doomed strategy they experienced first-hand.
Gil Shely recalls being told daily by his commanders in the late 1980s, in what was known then as the southern Lebanon “security strip,” that he was protecting Israel’s north.
“Looking back, it was all fairy tales,” he said.
Israel withdrew from that strip in 2000. Its troops are now back, occupying a swath of southern Lebanon about 10 km (six miles) deep. The aim, Israel says, is to protect its border towns from Hezbollah, the powerful Iran-backed Lebanese militia.
The new zone was announced in late March while Israel and Hezbollah were engaged in intense battle as the Iran war raged. It followed similar belts created in Gaza and Syria, reflecting Israel’s strategic shift after the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023.
