SOUTHERN LEBANON — Israel's military has carried out controlled demolitions in 55 towns and villages it occupies in southern Lebanon over the past two months, part of an effort to establish a buffer zone along the border. Israel said the operations are aimed at destroying Hezbollah infrastructure and preventing attacks on residents in northern Israel.

The Israeli military has published videos showing entire neighborhoods leveled in seconds by controlled detonations and said it blew up a massive stash of weapons it identified as belonging to Hezbollah. Israel plans to occupy a 10-kilometer-wide buffer zone along the Lebanon border and prevent residents from returning until the Hezbollah threat is eliminated, and has said it is prepared to remain in southern Lebanon for months or years.

"The fate of southern Lebanon will be the same as that of Gaza," Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said. Katz said Hezbollah is to blame for the demolition of Lebanese homes and villages.

Lebanese officials estimate about 62,000 homes have been damaged or destroyed since the beginning of March. Over one million people fled southern Lebanon at the height of the fighting, and the United Nations says more than 150,000 people remain displaced in tent camps across the country. There is no access to the Israeli-occupied area for residents or journalists.

Israel has also struck every major bridge crossing the Litani River to the south, including the Qasmiyeh bridge in the final hours before the current temporary ceasefire. Israel said the bridges were used by Hezbollah for weapons transport. The bridges are also used by civilians and aid and emergency workers. Humanitarian organizations reported that critical water infrastructure has been hit. Israel denied that its attacks on infrastructure are deliberate and said they are necessary for national security.

"We are witnessing the continuing utmost contempt for the international legal order, for diplomacy, and above all for the lives of civilians and the environment in Lebanon," United Nations human rights experts said. The experts said the issuance of blanket evacuation orders and destruction of housing in southern Lebanon is consistent with Israel's actions in Gaza.

"Previously damaged areas in Lebanon are now being completely leveled, and it looks like what Gaza looked like when we also saw a complete leveling," said Corey Scher, a postdoctoral researcher at the Conflict Ecology Laboratory at Oregon State University. Scher said Israeli military operations in both Gaza and southern Lebanon have involved widespread airstrikes, followed by a ground invasion and controlled demolitions.

Abed Ammar, an emergency responder who returned to the village of Mansouri on the first day of the temporary ceasefire, said, "The demolitions are louder than airstrikes. We can hear them very clearly from here."

Israel issues evacuation warnings via texts, automated calls, social media maps, radio broadcasts, and leaflets dropped from the air, and says the warnings are intended to keep civilians out of harm's way. Israel says Hezbollah has positioned fighters, tunnels, and weapons in civilian areas across southern Lebanon and launched hundreds of drones and missiles into northern Israel without warning. On March 2, Hezbollah launched a surprise barrage of missiles into northern Israel, its first attacks since a 2024 truce, in retaliation for U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran. On April 8, Israel struck about 100 targets in rapid succession without warning, killing more than 350 people, including in downtown Beirut; more than 100 of those killed were women and children. The Israeli military said Hezbollah commanders and operatives were expected to be present at many of the target sites.