Overview
- Defense Minister Israel Katz said Tuesday the army will control a security zone up to the Litani River and keep evacuees from returning until northern Israel is deemed secure.
- Israeli forces have blown up five bridges over the Litani since March 13 and are accelerating demolitions in frontline villages to carve out a buffer modeled on tactics used in Gaza.
- Lebanese authorities report at least 1,039 people killed and more than a million displaced, while a UN spokesman said Monday that over 1.2 million have fled their homes nationwide.
- Hezbollah vowed to fight any occupation, as strikes hit across Lebanon including a Beirut-area apartment where at least two people were killed, according to health officials.
- Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich urged setting Israel’s border at the Litani River, drawing fresh international scrutiny, including from the UN human rights chief over mass evacuation orders.