BBC travels inside occupied Lebanon as officials say Israel expanding positions

Overview

A BBC team joined a mission of the UN peacekeeping force, which says Israeli troops are fortifying positions and continuing demolitions.

Short history

The US and Israel began strikes on Iran on 28 February 2026. The war settled into weekly exchanges by 1 March, with ground fighting in Lebanon and naval clashes in the Strait of Hormuz. A 17 June lifted the US naval and Iran's closure of the strait and set a 60-day negotiating window. That window collapsed on 8 July after Iran struck three commercial tankers; the US resumed sustained nightly strikes and the fight narrowed to control of Hormuz. On 2 September 2026 a BBC team traveled with a UN peacekeeping humanitarian mission in occupied southern Lebanon where UN officials said Israeli troops were fortifying positions and continuing demolitions.

Predictive model

Israeli troops keep pushing deeper into southern Lebanon and tearing down buildings along the border. UN peacekeepers on the ground watched them fortify new spots and keep up the demolitions this week. The moves fit the pattern that started after the US and Israel hit Iran in late February 2026, when the fight spread into Lebanon and stayed there through the weekly strikes, the collapsed Islamabad talks in July, and the narrowed focus on the Strait of Hormuz. The pattern shows no sign of stopping soon because neither side has announced a pullback and the UN team saw fresh construction instead of withdrawal. Next steps likely stay on the same track: more Israeli engineering work, more reports from inside the occupied zones, and continued tit-for-tat actions that keep the Lebanese front tied to the Hormuz naval pressure. A real change would need a new ceasefire deal or a big shift in the Iran-US talks that both sides accept. This runs at least through the rest of 2026.

Primary sources

↗BBCwire