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<div class="gmail-inner-article-top"><h1 class="gmail-"> Satellite images reveal 'growing network' of Israeli outposts in Lebanon, Syria</h1><p class="gmail-">Israeli officials have signaled that they will not give up control of the regions they currently occupy in both countries </p><div class="gmail-another-name"><p><a href="https://thecradle.co/authors/news-desk-9" style="color:rgb(164,4,4)">News Desk</a></p></div><div class="gmail-another-name" style="margin-top:16px"><p><span style="color:rgb(84,88,94)">MAR 31, 2025 - </span><font size="1"><a href="https://thecradle.co/articles/satellite-images-reveal-growing-network-of-israeli-outposts-in-lebanon-syria">https://thecradle.co/articles/satellite-images-reveal-growing-network-of-israeli-outposts-in-lebanon-syria</a></font></p></div></div><div class="gmail-inner-article-img"><img src="https://thecradle-main.oss-eu-central-1.aliyuncs.com/public/articles/933ea66c-0e34-11f0-92e8-00163e02c055.webp" alt="" width="394" height="222" style="margin-right: 0px;"><span>(Photo credit: Atef Safadi/EPA, via Shutterstock)</span></div><div class="gmail-inner-article-content"><div class="gmail-row"><div class="gmail-col-md-8 gmail-col-sm-7"><div class="gmail-article-content"><span class="gmail-article-body"><p>Satellite imagery reviewed by the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/03/31/world/middleeast/israel-border-military-outposts-syria-lebanon-border.html"><i>New York Times</i></a> (NYT) has confirmed that Israel is gearing up for a permanent military presence in both southern Syria and south Lebanon. </p><div class="gmail-twitter-tweet gmail-twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display:flex;max-width:550px;width:100%;margin-top:10px;margin-bottom:10px"></div> <p>“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. </p><p>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. </p><p>“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. </p><p>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.” </p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>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. </p><p>Nonetheless, Tel Aviv has demanded a complete demilitarization of southern Syria and continues to launch <a href="https://thecradle.co/articles-id/29517">incursions</a>
deeper into the country. The Israeli air force has pounded military
infrastructure belonging to the former government with hundreds of
airstrikes since December 2024. </p><p>Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has said that the presence of Tel Aviv's forces in Syria will be “indefinite.”</p><p>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. </p><p>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. </p><p>Satellite imagery reviewed by the NYT showed Israeli forces building military structures in south Lebanon. </p><p>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. </p><p>Al Manar correspondent Ali Shoeib <a href="https://thecradle.co/articles-id/29440">reported</a>
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.”</p><p>“By doing so, the enemy forces have effectively seized and occupied an area beyond the five demarcation points,” he added. </p><p>“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.</p><p>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].”</p></span></div></div></div></div>
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