Who Holds the Land
Israel’s defense minister said Monday that the country would not withdraw from land seized in Lebanon, Syria and the Gaza Strip, putting the machinery of occupation front and center while people in the region are left to live with the wreckage. Defense Minister Israel Katz said Israel plans to stay “indefinitely” in land it holds in Lebanon, Syria and the Gaza Strip. Over the past 2 1/2 years, Israel has taken control of areas in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria amounting to 1,000 square kilometers (386 square miles) of territory.
Katz also threatened that if Iran attacks Israel over its strikes in Lebanon, Israel will strike Iran with “great force.” Asked where Israel stands on the deal, David Mencer, a spokesman in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, said Israel and the U.S. remain fully aligned on preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. He added that Israel will not tolerate attacks from Hezbollah on its territory and will continue to act against those who seek to harm its citizens.
What People Return To
In Lebanon, the Lebanese army called on residents not to rush to return to border villages, saying they should follow military instructions because of the danger of “Israeli violations and aggression.” That warning came as many Lebanese who had fled following Israeli evacuation orders and intense fighting were heading south to check on their homes.
Celine Fayad, driving south, said she would test how far she could go. Her village, Aitaroun, is along the border with Israel. It was among the first to be occupied and lies in ruins. Ali Haidar was among the first to return to Nabatiyeh, the southern city at the heart of the latest Israeli military operations, where many central buildings have been reduced to dust. He said, “This used to be our home, our childhood home where we have all of our memories. This is where we grew up. Now it’s gone. We will return to rubble and sand. It’s better than being displaced.”
The words from the people forced to navigate the aftermath come before the polished language of officials and spokesmen, because they are the ones living under the consequences of decisions made above them. Their homes are reduced to rubble, their villages occupied, and their movement shaped by military orders and the threat of more violence.
The Deal, the Bombing, the Ruins
The report also said Israel’s bombing of Beirut’s southern suburbs on Sunday nearly derailed negotiations, and a previous attack led Iran to fire on Israel and Israel to fire back. In its first public statement after the deal’s announcement, Hezbollah credited Iran with a “major achievement” in reaching the agreement, which it said could lead to “the full liberation of our land, the return of our prisoners to their homeland and families,” and reconstruction of war-devastated areas.
Along with praising the deal, the militant group said it was committed to resisting Israel “until full withdrawal is achieved.” That language sits beside the reality on the ground: occupied territory, destroyed neighborhoods, and people trying to return to places that no longer exist in any livable form.
The separate West Bank report said the economy in the occupied territory is being dismantled and facing severe challenges. That is the other side of the same hierarchy: not just military control over land, but the grinding destruction of the material life people need to survive. The apparatus does not only redraw borders; it hollows out daily existence.
What the Powerful Say
Katz’s promise to stay “indefinitely” in seized land and his threat to hit Iran with “great force” show the logic of permanent control dressed up as security. Mencer’s statement that Israel and the U.S. remain fully aligned on preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons places the major powers in the same frame, speaking in the language of prevention while people in Lebanon and the occupied West Bank absorb the damage.
The facts in the report are blunt enough on their own: territory taken, villages occupied, homes destroyed, residents displaced, and an economy in the occupied West Bank being dismantled. The official vocabulary calls it strategy, deterrence, and alignment. On the ground, it looks like domination.