IDF escalates efforts to prevent civilian return to southern Lebanon after ceasefire

Some said that they succeeded in reaching their villages and found significant amounts of damage.

Others said that though they were able to get into southern Lebanon, the IDF blocked the road to their village or used warning fire to make them turn back.

At this initial stage, Hezbollah has also, at least in public, told Lebanese civilians not to return to their homes yet, due to the possibility of a return to hostilities, including their ongoing use of improvised explosive devices against IDF soldiers in the area.

It is unclear whether they are maintaining that position in private, especially since, after the November 2024 ceasefire, Hezbollah encouraged Lebanese civilians to return to their villages against IDF instructions. This was meant to return life to normal in southern Lebanon as quickly as possible, as well as to provide cover for Hezbollah fighters to return among the masses. Both those reasons potentially apply in the current circumstances.

The IDF escalated its attempts to prevent the return on Sunday and Monday.

On Sunday, the IDF publicized for the first time its new defense line, around 5 to 10 kilometers into southern Lebanon in most spots, with some IDF forces reaching up to around 14 km. at a specific point, telling civilians not to approach the line.

Then on Monday, the IDF put out a new, more specific warning, naming some 20 villages along the defense line which should not be approached, and naming an additional approximately 50 villages throughout southern Lebanon that should not be approached.

This latest effort appeared to be directed at deterring Lebanese civilians who may have remained in or penetrated into southern Lebanon from nearby areas where the IDF is establishing new positions and clearing out Hezbollah weapons.

Although the IDF has given general orders to open fire within southern Lebanon even if an approaching unidentified person is not armed, based on the idea that there are no civilians left in southern Lebanon, this approach may be difficult to maintain over time.

Since much of the world opposes IDF forces remaining in southern Lebanon, this controversy will especially increase if the IDF does, in fact, engage in shooting unarmed civilians who move into no-go zones.

There are also other unresolved questions about the IDF’s actions during the current shaky ceasefire.

Overnight between Sunday and Monday, the IDF said that it had struck a loaded, ready-to-fire Hezbollah launcher in Qalawiyah, north of the IDF’s established new defense line.

Although the IDF said that the launcher posed an “immediate threat” to its troops and civilians and that the launcher was destroyed in “self-defense,” Hezbollah had not fired on Israel since April 16, making it unclear how immediate the threat could have been and how much the action could be said to have been in self-defense.

On April 17, IDF sources said that the military could attack Hezbollah fighters who were in southern Lebanon post-ceasefire and who did not surrender.

In that sense, the IDF said that the ceasefire only applied North of the Litani River. Nevertheless, this left the legitimacy of the attack on the specific rocket launcher, which was North of the Litani River, unclear.

Under the laws of war, the IDF can attack Hezbollah weapons, which could endanger Israeli civilians even if the danger was not immediate, given the recent history of Hezbollah launching tens of thousands of rockets and drones at Israeli civilians.

However, under the ceasefire that Israel eventually agreed to, it was unclear how the overnight attack could be justified.

IDF sources did not fully explain the dilemmas and potential inconsistencies involved, but they doubled down on the rocket launcher having been an immediate threat.