Katz Threatens More Israeli Control in Lebanon if Hezbollah Joins Iran

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Wednesday that Israel would seize additional territory in southern Lebanon and impose large-scale displacement if Hezbollah joins an Iranian attack on Israel, describing the threatened actions as conditional rather than announcing an operation underway. During a visit to Israeli military positions in southern Lebanon, Katz said areas around Nabatieh and the Litani River would become part of Israel’s permanent security zone if Hezbollah entered such an attack. He said the military was prepared for a ground offensive and warned that Beirut’s southern suburbs, known as Dahiyeh, would be evacuated and infrastructure there targeted. Katz also said more than one million Shiites in Lebanon would be displaced. That figure was his estimate; the remarks provided no calculation or methodology. The threats concern potential future action and do not establish that a new offensive or evacuation has occurred. Katz separately warned Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem, saying he could bring about the destruction of Lebanon’s Shiite community and face the same fate as former leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli strike in 2024.