Beirut (Lebanon) – An unrecognized strip, drawn by Israel on the ground between destruction and displacement, is beginning to redefine southern Lebanon as diplomacy tries to contain the escalation.

First modification: 04/25/2026 - 03:40Last modification: 04/25/2026 - 03:42

While the ceasefire between Israel and the Government of Lebanon has already been extended to 20 days, the talks held in Washington leave a framework still uncertain. But, on the ground, the Shiite group Hezbollah and Israel maintain open war.

Hezbollah reiterates its call to displaced people in the south not to return to their homes yet, while Israel continues the destruction of border towns. Two opposite dynamics that end up producing the same effect: weakening the capacity of the Lebanese State to channel its own political solution.

The country is thus trapped between an external actor that questions its sovereignty and an armed internal actor that depends on its fragility.

In this context, what is taking place in the south is not only a continuation of the conflict, but a de facto redefinition of space. The destruction of areas with a Shiite majority and the impossibility of return are drawing an intermediate zone, not formalized but operational, where it is decided who can return and under what conditions.

This is where the so-called “yellow line” emerges: a route that is not officially recognized, absent from any agreement, but that begins to function as an implicit reference on the ground. A de facto border that organizes displacements, returns and the architecture of destruction itself.

And as often happens in this region, what is presented as provisional tends to settle.

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The threat of the "yellow line"

Between the Israeli border and the first hills of southern Lebanon, the space has changed. Entire towns are today empty or partially destroyed, roads blocked, access prohibited. The line does not appear on official maps, but it already structures the geography of the conflict.

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It is one-sided. According to several Lebanese military sources, it is entering between five and eight kilometers into Lebanese territory, with greater advances in some points. It would cover about 500 km² and affect around fifty towns. Part of those towns are today uninhabitable.

“It is not a timeline, it is a way to control the terrain in the long term,” explains Abdel Salam Ahmad, from the Center for Strategic Studies in Beirut.

Since the Israeli withdrawal in 2000, the so-called Blue Line served as a reference. The “yellow line”, on the other hand, has no status. It overlaps, overflows it in some sections and de facto redefines the border area.

To understand its logic you have to look at the relief. The progression does not follow a straight path. It rests on heights, on dominant points. From west to east, Israeli positions are chained along the hills, from the coast to the Kfarchouba foothills.

"It is a space where civil life is no longer possible," adds Abdel Salam.

Between those points, the intermediate zones have been largely razed. "They advance through the hills. Between the positions, they destroy, summarizes retired colonel George el Khoury. The result is an empty space. In that strip, the return of the inhabitants is largely prevented. The destruction, combined with access restrictions, has transformed entire areas into a "no man's land." "It is a space where civilian life is no longer possible," adds Abdel Salam.

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What are Lebanon and the UN doing?

On the ground, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) remains deployed along the Blue Line, with no real capacity to influence this new configuration.

The Lebanese Army, which for the last year maintained positions around that line, has been forced to retreat further north after the outbreak of the conflict and the Israeli advance, leaving it de facto outside this new strip of control.

In recent days there has been another step. The Israeli Army has released a map that delimits for the first time the contours of this area, presented as an “advanced defense line.” The route goes beyond the simple border strip. It includes dozens of towns, from Naqoura to Khiam, and extends, in some places, north of the Litani.

The projection does not stop there. The document also suggests an extension towards the sea, opposite Ras al-Bayada, and towards the east, towards Anti-Lebanon. A representation that points less to a specific measurement than to a desire to inscribe this line in time.

“When a line appears on a map, it is no longer provisional,” observes retired general George el Khoury.

On the Lebanese side, rejection is widespread. The deputy of the Amal movement, Ali Hassan Khalil, denounces a systematic destruction of towns and speaks of a “war crime.” He accuses Israel of violating the truce daily to impose a new reality on the ground.

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Hezbollah seeks resistance

In Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite movement, enemy of Israel and supported by Iran, which is both a militant group and political party and maintains a strong military presence in southern Lebanon. the speech is equally clear.

MP Hassan Fadlallah affirms that his party supports the continuation of the truce, but demands the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces. He also warns that this "yellow line" will be "broken" by the resistance, rejecting any attempt to consolidate it on the ground.

This rejection also extends to the diplomatic level: Hezbollah opposes any direct negotiations with Israel, considering that it could grant it legitimacy at a time when, according to its complaint, it continues to impose faits accomplis.

Even so, the diplomatic process remains underway in Washington, where a framework is being negotiated to end hostilities, facilitate the Israeli withdrawal and allow the deployment of the Lebanese Army to the internationally recognized border.

But on the ground, the dynamics are already ahead. Israel has been establishing a de facto “yellow line” in southern Lebanon, which delimits areas of movement, return and destruction without having been officially agreed upon or recognized.

In this context, the chronology is reversed: it is not diplomacy that defines the facts, but rather the accomplished facts that condition the negotiation.

“Israel negotiates from a reality that it has already created on the ground, analyzes Abdel Salam.

“The question is no longer just where the border is, but what is done with this new line,” he adds.

It remains to be seen if it will be consolidated or if it will disappear with an eventual agreement. In a region marked by lines that over time become borders, and are questioned again, its future will depend less on its official recognition than on the ability to impose or reverse it on the ground.

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