Israel Expands Buffer Zone and Raids West Bank

Between April 26 and April 29, 2026, Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to expand a security belt and buffer zone in southern Lebanon to prevent Hezbollah attacks. Under Operation Northern Arrows, the military targeted the Bint Jbeil sector, destroying the city's headquarters and over 1,500 buildings, including a 400-year-old mosque and a hospital. While the IDF reports eliminating 70 terrorists and destroying a 14-kilometer Hamas tunnel network in Northern Gaza, reports indicate the systematic destruction of Shi'ite villages and civilian infrastructure, such as solar panels in the town of Debel.

Internal tensions rose within the IDF as Chief of Staff Herzi Halevy condemned the looting of civilian property and religious icons in Lebanon as disgraceful. Concurrently, the IDF executed a 15-hour raid north of Jerusalem in the Qalandiya refugee camp, Al-Ram, and Kafr Aqab, detaining over 35 Palestinians and issuing widespread demolition notices.

In the West Bank, coordinated attacks by military forces and paramilitary settlers resulted in the uprooting of hundreds of olive trees and multiple assaults on Palestinians. Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem responded by pledging to thwart the buffer zone and warning that Israeli settlements would remain unsafe. Defense Minister Israel Katz warned that the conflict would expand across all of Lebanon if the government continued to shelter Hezbollah.