The military established the zone in late September, shortly before launching a ground invasion of Lebanon aimed at destroying Hezbollah’s weapons and infrastructure.
The deadly rocket attack came as two U.S. envoys met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem to discuss a cease-fire agreement to end the war against Hezbollah.
Netanyahu told Amos Horschstein and Brett McGurk that the main problem is Israel’s ability to “deter threats to Lebanon’s security in a way that safely returns our people home.”
After nearly a year of cross-border fighting sparked by the war in the Gaza Strip, Israel declared Hezbollah a terrorist organization and went on the offensive.
Hezbollah said on October 7, 2023, a day after the attack on Israel by its ally Hamas, that it wanted to ensure the safe return of tens of thousands of residents of Israel’s northern border areas who were displaced by rocket attacks in support of Palestinians.
Since then, 2,200 people have died in Lebanon over the past five weeks and 1.2 million have been displaced, according to Lebanese authorities.
Israeli authorities say more than 60 people have been killed in Hezbollah rocket, drone and missile attacks in northern Israel and the occupied Golan Heights.
