{"id":72022,"date":"2026-03-27T18:18:29","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T18:18:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2026\/03\/27\/combat-zone-widens-in-lebanon-as-israel-and-hezbollah-escalate-attacks\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T01:26:25","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T01:26:25","slug":"combat-zone-widens-in-lebanon-as-israel-and-hezbollah-escalate-attacks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/global\/mideast-africa\/2026\/03\/27\/combat-zone-widens-in-lebanon-as-israel-and-hezbollah-escalate-attacks\/","title":{"rendered":"Combat zone widens in Lebanon as Israel and Hezbollah escalate attacks"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

BEIRUT, Lebanon \u2014 Ukraine-style warfare came to Lebanon this week as Hezbollah started posting video taken from its suicide drones colliding with Israeli tanks rolling into the south of the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, for his part, promised to bring Israel\u2019s Gaza modus operandi to Lebanon, as his country\u2019s military, named the Israel Defense Forces, tries to carve out a \u201csecurity zone\u201d in the south.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Israeli military will follow \u201cthe model of Rafah and Beit Hanoun,\u201d he said, referring to two Gaza cities the IDF mostly destroyed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The announcements promised a new type of warfare on an old battlefield: South Lebanon is now being invaded by Israel for the fifth time since 1978, this time in response to Hezbollah firing rockets into Israel on March 2 to protest the assassination of Iran\u2019s supreme leader.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Katz has ordered the IDF to establish a \u201csecurity zone\u201d south of Lebanon\u2019s Litani river \u2014 about 20 miles from the Israeli border \u2014 to stop Hezbollah firing rockets and missiles into northern Israel.<\/p>\n\n\n\t