When Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel on March 2, two days after Israel and the United States began their war against Iran, the resulting Israeli operation to annihilate the group quickly became a mission to flatten swathes of southern Lebanon.
Israeli warplanes bombed the country and soldiers captured more territory in the south. Ground operations began to resemble those seen in Gaza, with bulldozers demolishing buildings and acts of destruction destroying entire villages.
These ground operations continue even after last week’s ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah.
CNN’s review of satellite images revealed the scale of the destruction.
Hundreds of buildings, most of them believed to be residential buildings, have either completely collapsed or become uninhabitable.
Satellite images and video after the ceasefire was announced on April 16 show that bombing continued rapidly, with excavators and armored vehicles clearly visible.
Human rights groups have sounded the alarm, warning that Israeli military attacks mirror tactics used in Gaza, from heavy attacks on critical infrastructure and medical facilities to targeting of journalists and psychological warfare.
Israeli officials have outlined plans to create a long-term “safe zone” within the border, now preferred by the term “front line of defence”, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said his forces will extend positions up to 10 kilometers (6 miles) deep inside Lebanon.
Israel is exporting scenarios of Gaza destruction to southern Lebanon
Israeli government officials have been clear about what that means.
Defense Minister Yisrael Katz has vowed to destroy all homes in villages near the border, in line with what he calls the “Rafah and Beit Hanun model.”
Rafah and Beit Hanun are cities in Gaza’s southern and northern ends, respectively, that have been destroyed by Israeli forces over the past two and a half years.
After the ceasefire was announced last week, Katz doubled down, saying the “destruction of houses in Lebanese communication villages” would continue, describing them as “terrorist outposts.”
The Israeli military has announced it is targeting Hezbollah’s infrastructure across the country in response to thousands of rockets, drones and anti-tank missiles launched into Israel since 2023.
The newspaper said Hezbollah stores weapons buried in civilian homes, and published images of weapons and ammunition soldiers said they had found during searches, as well as images of an underground command center hidden under a clothing store.
Senior Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) officials said Israel would impose a so-called “yellow line” in Lebanon, prohibiting residents from returning to Israeli-occupied territory.
This is a tactic lifted directly from Israel’s new occupation of the Gaza Strip.
There, it started as a temporary yellow line on a map marking the boundaries of territory occupied by Israeli forces after a Trump-brokered ceasefire last October.
But after a few weeks, yellow-painted concrete blocks began to appear on the ground, making a permanent impression that only deepened. Palestinian officials say residents are still prohibited from crossing the border, and hundreds have been shot dead for getting too close.
Israel’s new yellow line in southern Lebanon appears similarly divisive, separating 55 towns and villages from the rest of the country.
The IDF has called on residents not to return, firing multiple shots at residents allegedly approaching the yellow line, adding that it has “the authority to continue destroying terrorist infrastructure even during a ceasefire.”
Much of southern Lebanon, an area with a predominantly Shiite Muslim population and strong Hezbollah influence, was already devastated and depopulated after more than two years of war with Israel. But the destruction has intensified since the latest attacks began on March 2.
CNN analyzed satellite images provided by Airbus to assess the extent of the damage as fighting resumed.
CNN counted 523 buildings destroyed in 22 communities in the first 10 days of Israel’s March attacks. According to a CNN analysis, Israeli forces destroyed not only homes, but also mosques, pharmacies, cafes and car repair shops.
Videos taken by residents show controlled demolition work taking place, while satellite images reveal a pattern of Israeli bulldozers and excavators operating in already heavily damaged areas and show ground forces moving into areas previously hit by air attacks.
For residents of southern Lebanon, the war marks a new chapter in displacement.
According to the International Rescue Committee, nearly 1.3 million Lebanese have been evacuated. Most are from the Shiite community, many of whom were already forced to flee their homes in 2024.
Hassan Ranmal is one of them.
His village, Adaise, is located very close to the Israeli-Lebanese border. Many of the residents, like Ranmar himself, support Hezbollah.
The 62-year-old businessman fled to Beirut with his wife and three sons in early 2024, hoping to return once the war subsides.
“There’s a sense of tragedy in evacuation. It’s leaving your memories, leaving your home, leaving everything you’ve planted, everything you’ve built and nurtured with your own hands,” he told CNN.
Shortly after the family fled, Ranmal said they received word that their home had been destroyed, possibly by an airstrike.
“I felt like someone took my soul and the memory of my life,” he said.
Ramal also owns nearby high-rise commercial and residential buildings, which were partially damaged by the strike. There were shops on the lower floor and four apartments on the upper floor. After Israel and Hezbollah agreed to a cessation of fighting in November 2024, he returned to Adaise to rebuild the complex, hoping to live in one of the apartments with his family.
Construction began in February of this year, but was halted a few weeks later when war resumed. Ranmar left Adaise again with his family.
A short time later, he received a video taken from a drone. It showed an apocalyptic image of my village. Almost all the buildings, including the one he was trying to renovate, were reduced to rubble.
Satellite images taken a few days earlier, on March 18, show that two excavators are still standing a few meters from his property, likely destroyed by Israeli bulldozers.
There are similar stories elsewhere. In Kiam, about 5 kilometers north of the border, the green belt has turned brown due to Israeli earthworks. Satellite images from April 22 show bulldozers and excavators working in the area.
Ali al-Abbani, 20, who has only known Kiam so far, is too young to have lived through Lebanon’s past wars with Israel. “This is the first war I’ve ever experienced, and I can’t express how terrifying it is,” he told CNN from Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, where he is living as a refugee with his parents and siblings.
He told CNN that whenever Israeli drones or fighter jets fly over, his body goes into shock and he often runs for his mother’s hugs. Satellite images of his home village sent on a WhatsApp group earlier this month showed homes destroyed.
“My mother spent the whole night crying. I started crying too… All my memories are in every corner of that house,” he said.
The current ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah is the second since war broke out in October 2023. After the first ceasefire in November 2024, Israel maintained a military presence in southern Lebanon and operated five forward operating bases, the IDF confirmed. According to a CNN review of satellite images, four more apparent Israeli positions were established between October 2025 and January 2026, but the Israeli military has not publicly identified these bases.
Jeremy Binney, a Middle East defense expert at Jane’s, a London-based defense intelligence firm, told CNN that the IDF is likely expanding its presence to “enhance the visibility of Lebanese territory over existing Israeli positions on the border.”
He said this was consistent with Israel’s plans for a long-term occupation of the new security zone, but warned that building additional positions deep into the country could put Israeli soldiers “in isolated positions and expose them to inevitable rebel attacks.”
Hezbollah, on the other hand, says it will not accept a ceasefire unless Israel withdraws, vowing to “resist the occupation and expel it from our lands.”
The future of the 600,000 Lebanese in the south remains uncertain, with no one knowing whether they will be able to return home or if they will even have a home to return to.
Rammar, a 62-year-old businessman, said Lebanon had “never had a day of peace” with its southern neighbor.
And he ridiculed Israel’s plans to seize parts of southern Lebanon.
“They say they want to protect their own security, but they endanger other countries. They can say whatever they want. There is no buffer zone,” he said.
“Even if it’s just to build a tent, I’ll go back…This is my village, until my last breath.”
