[News] Satellite images reveal 'growing network' of Israeli outposts in Lebanon, Syria

[Anti-Imperialist News]

 Satellite images reveal 'growing network' of Israeli outposts in Lebanon,
Syria

Israeli officials have signaled that they will not give up control of the
regions they currently occupy in both countries

News Desk <https://thecradle.co/authors/news-desk-9>

MAR 31, 2025 -
https://thecradle.co/articles/satellite-images-reveal-growing-network-of-israeli-outposts-in-lebanon-syria
(Photo credit: Atef Safadi/EPA, via Shutterstock)

Satellite imagery reviewed by the *New York Times*
<https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/03/31/world/middleeast/israel-border-military-outposts-syria-lebanon-border.html>
(NYT) has confirmed that Israel is gearing up for a permanent military
presence in both southern Syria and south Lebanon.

“Israel has built a growing network of outposts and fortifications in Syria
and Lebanon, deepening concerns about a protracted occupation in parts of
the two countries … There are signs that Israel appears prepared to remain
indefinitely,” the NYT writes.

In southern Syria, Israel has established several military sites equipped
with prefabricated housing, roads, and communication infrastructure, local
sources confirmed to the outlet. An image from January shows Israeli troops
working on the construction of a perimeter wall in the town of Jubata
al-Khashab.

“They say it’s temporary, but based on what they're building, it seems
they're preparing to stay for a while,” said Omar Tahan, a local official
in the town of Kudna in south Syria’s Quneitra governorate.

Last month, Israeli Army Radio reported that Tel Aviv’s forces established
nine bases extending from Mount Hermon and through Quneitra until the Deraa
governate, which all “appeared to be permanent.”

Israeli occupation forces swept across southern Syria after the ousting of
former president Bashar al-Assad in December, moving past the demilitarized
zone and expanding their decades-long illegal occupation in the country.

Israel first occupied parts of the Syrian Golan Heights during the Six-Day
War in 1967. After the October War in 1973, Syria and Israel struck a
ceasefire agreement that established a demilitarized zone in the Golan
Heights.

Netanyahu declared this agreement defunct after the fall of Assad’s
government, but the new Syrian authorities remain committed to the deal –
and have signaled an unwillingness for a military confrontation with
Israel.

Nonetheless, Tel Aviv has demanded a complete demilitarization of southern
Syria and continues to launch incursions
<https://thecradle.co/articles-id/29517> deeper into the country. The
Israeli air force has pounded military infrastructure belonging to the
former government with hundreds of airstrikes since December 2024.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has said that the presence of Tel
Aviv's forces in Syria will be “indefinite.”

Meanwhile, the Israeli army remains positioned in five locations along the
border inside southern Lebanon, where they established themselves following
the ceasefire deal in November 2024. This is aside from the Lebanese land
that Israel has already been illegally occupying for decades.

Israel was meant to pull out all its forces from south Lebanon after the
ceasefire deal; however, it did not, accusing Hezbollah of still being
present south of the Litani River and alleging that the Lebanese army had
not fulfilled its terms by properly deploying in the area.

Satellite imagery reviewed by the NYT showed Israeli forces building
military structures in south Lebanon.

At one site near Khiam, cars and trucks are parked inside a walled outpost,
outside a path leading to it where trees have been cleared out. The
pictures show a similar outpost between the towns of Houla and Markaba.

Al Manar correspondent Ali Shoeib reported
<https://thecradle.co/articles-id/29440> on 15 March that Israeli troops
“have dug a long trench on the western side of the road leading from the
town of Houla toward the Israeli Abbad site, in preparation for placing
metal wires inside the trench on Lebanese land belonging to the town.”

“By doing so, the enemy forces have effectively seized and occupied an area
beyond the five demarcation points,” he added.

“As a result, the entire area extending from Abbad to the newly established
site on the Houla–Markaba road is now occupied territory, in addition to
the already surveyed lands of the town of Hunin, which include many
citizens' homes,” Shoeib went on to say, adding that this is happening
under the watch of UNIFIL and Lebanese army troops deployed in the area.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on 14 March: “We maintain
five points on the Lebanese side of the border to protect our territory. We
will not relinquish control [of the five sites].”
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