Israel's military has moved up to 10 kilometers into southern Lebanon to locate and destroy what it describes as an extensive tunnel network built by Hezbollah, according to AP.

The ground operation started on September 30, 2024, when Israeli Defense Force (IDF) units, including the 98th Division, crossed the border in a coordinated maneuver, per a 2025 IDF case study on the operation. Since then, troops have advanced into heavily fortified territory containing one of the most complex non-state defense networks documented in recent history. Israeli soldiers have found and photographed tunnel entrances during the campaign, AP reported in October 2024. The IDF says it has discovered roughly three kilometers of underground passages so far, some with booby-trapped shaft openings.

These were not simple supply or communication routes. According to IDF documentation, Hezbollah built the network to enable sudden raids across the border — including kidnappings of Israeli civilians and soldiers — mirroring the tactics Hamas used in the October 7, 2023 attack. Israel has also struck a tunnel stretching from Lebanon into Syria and destroyed infrastructure near a key border crossing, widening the scope of the operation beyond the immediate battlefield.

The Problem With Long-Term Control

The sheer scale of underground infrastructure Hezbollah constructed presents the core challenge for any future peace arrangement. UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, required the group to pull back north of the Litani River and barred any armed forces from the south without authorization. Hezbollah built these tunnels long after 1701 passed — a direct violation of that agreement. Israel has pointed to this breach as legal and political justification for its current operation, and that argument carries weight even among governments critical of Israel's broader conduct in Lebanon.

But here is the tension: Israel cannot hold 10 kilometers of Lebanese soil indefinitely while also expecting Lebanon to clear out the tunnels on its own. Lebanon's government does not have the capacity or security forces to enforce the UN resolution against Hezbollah's military wing. UNIFIL, the UN peacekeeping force in the region, lacks both the legal authority and military strength to do so. This gap is exactly what allowed the tunnels to be built in the first place. Closing it will require a political agreement that does not yet exist — one that spells out who guards the territory, how the tunnel destruction is verified, and how long it takes.

Rocket Fire Keeps Negotiations Stalled

Active fighting has not stopped during the ground operation. The IDF tracked and attacked a Hezbollah launch site in southern Lebanon after rockets were fired toward Kiryat Shmona, a northern Israeli city roughly eight kilometers from the border. Since October 2023, Kiryat Shmona's civilians have been repeatedly displaced by these attacks. The city's safety, in effect, becomes the test of whether any ceasefire actually works.

Rocket launches from the contested zone — whether from Hezbollah's formal military or allied groups — undercut Israel's ability to withdraw. This creates a perverse incentive: each new launch gives hardliners on both sides a reason to keep fighting and resets the clock on international pressure for a pullback.

As of late June 2026, no lasting ceasefire framework has taken hold. The 10-kilometer line Israel controls is not a recognized border; it marks the current forward position of Israeli troops. Israel has not announced a withdrawal timeline. Any eventual deal will have to clarify whether Lebanon's military or an international force can credibly replace Israeli troops in that buffer zone — and whether the remaining tunnel network can be verified as truly destroyed rather than simply abandoned. Both questions remain unsolved.