Israel Threatens Gaza-Style Destruction in Hezbollah’s Southern Lebanon Stronghold

24/03/2026

TEL AVIV, (AP) Mar 24: Defense Minister Israel Katz says that the Israeli military will destroy homes in southern Lebanon, just as it did in Gaza, in what he says is a stepped-up effort to rid the area of Hezbollah militants.

Katz says that Israel will implement “the Rafah and Beit Hanoun models,” referring to two Gaza border towns that Israel flattened in its offensive in the Palestinian territory.

Katz says that the military is going beyond destroying Hezbollah infrastructure, and that it was also destroying houses in Lebanese villages near the border that he says “serve as terrorist outposts for all intents and purposes.”