An investigation by the Financial Times and Lighthouse Reports has documented extensive destruction across Israeli-occupied southern Lebanon, showing that Israeli military operations continued to raze homes, infrastructure, farmland and historic sites even after much of the fighting had subsided.

The visual investigation, based on satellite imagery, open-source material and verified footage, found that much of the destruction occurred after Israeli forces had established control over evacuated villages in mid-April. The campaign has left large areas without the infrastructure needed for civilian life, including water and energy networks, roads, schools and healthcare facilities. 

The findings have raised questions among rights groups and international law experts over whether the scale and persistence of the destruction can be justified by military necessity and whether the continued prevention of displaced civilians from returning could amount to forcible displacement. 

The investigation comes as Israel maintains control over swathes of southern Lebanon under what it calls a security zone, amid US-brokered negotiations intended to lead to an Israeli withdrawal and a broader settlement.

Destruction continued after the ceasefire

The latest war began on March 2, when Hezbollah opened fire on Israel in support of Iran, following the start of a US-Israeli war against Tehran. More than 4,300 people have been killed in Lebanon and more than 30 Israeli soldiers and civilians have died, according to figures cited by the Financial Times.

Israel's military issued evacuation orders that displaced about 1.2 million people during the first 10 days of the war, most of them from Hezbollah strongholds in southern Lebanon.

Although intense fighting continued for weeks, the FT-Lighthouse investigation found that much of the destruction it documented took place after an initial Israel-Lebanon ceasefire on April 17.

Israeli forces had already established control over many of the villages whose residents had fled. Yet demolitions continued through airstrikes, controlled explosions, bulldozers and heavy machinery, while white phosphorus was also used in the area. 

In a late-April visit to part of the Israeli-controlled area, FT journalists saw villages where barely any buildings remained standing. Historic markets, squares and winding streets had been reduced to rubble, while explosions apparently linked to building demolitions continued throughout the day. 

A growing security zone

The area under Israeli control has become known as the “yellow line”, although it has no formal demarcation on the ground.

The zone extends roughly 10 km inland from the informal Israel-Lebanon border and covers about 6% of Lebanon's territory. Israeli flags and Hebrew signs have appeared in the area, while new Israeli military outposts have expanded.

According to Lebanon's National Council for Scientific Research, 62 villages and farms fall within the zone, with about 270,000 residents prevented from returning.

Most of the communities are predominantly Shiite, although several smaller Christian and Sunni villages remain. The investigation found that these communities have generally suffered less destruction, but their residents have also reported killings, detentions and threats. 

Israel has continued to operate beyond the yellow line as well. The FT reported that Israel recently ordered residents of a village north of the line to leave before shelling the area, the first such warning in several weeks. 

Entire villages cleared

The scale of the destruction is particularly evident in towns such as Bint Jbeil, a historic southern city that had about 30,000 residents before the war.

The town has suffered repeated destruction in successive Israeli conflicts. After the 2006 war, residents rebuilt much of it. The latest campaign has again reduced parts of the town to rubble.

The FT-Lighthouse satellite analysis of Bint Jbeil, Khiam, Taybeh and Haddatha found that Israeli clearance extended beyond individual buildings and town centers, in some cases encompassing almost entire municipalities. The damage in some areas expanded outward over time.

The investigation also found evidence of controlled detonations and demolitions carried out by Israeli forces and civilian contractors in dozens of border communities.

Verified footage showed heavy machinery and excavators being used in the destruction. FT analysis and CNRS data linked some of the equipment to manufacturers including Caterpillar and Volvo. Caterpillar did not respond to requests for comment, while Volvo said it had limited control over how its products were ultimately used and sought to prevent their misuse. 

Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz had earlier openly described the scale of the campaign. Referring to the destruction of cities in Gaza, he invoked what he called the “Rafah and Beit Hanoun model” and said: “All homes in Lebanese villages near the border will be destroyed.”

By July, Katz said Israeli forces had destroyed all buildings in 24 Lebanese villages, claiming that as many as 20,000 homes had been demolished — “not house by house, but entire villages.” 

Israel presents the campaign as defensive, saying it is intended to dismantle Hezbollah's military infrastructure, prevent the group from rebuilding near the frontier and protect communities in northern Israel. Israel has said its forces will remain in the security zone and act against threats for as long as Hezbollah remains there. 

Nearly 85,000 homes damaged or destroyed

Lebanon's National Council for Scientific Research estimates that almost 85,000 housing units have been damaged or destroyed across the south.

The figure is likely an underestimate, the council says, because between 20% and 30% of buildings have yet to be assessed amid continuing Israeli attacks and limited access to some areas. 

But the destruction documented by the FT and Lighthouse investigation goes far beyond housing.

The campaign has damaged or destroyed the water, energy, road, education and healthcare systems needed to sustain communities, potentially making return impossible even where some homes remain standing.

Water systems devastated

At least 2,500 km of infrastructure used to collect, store and transport water to homes and businesses has been damaged, according to local authorities and the CNRS.

The damage includes pipelines and boreholes. Some infrastructure was directly hit, while other systems were damaged by nearby explosions, according to officials, engineers and aid organizations cited by the investigation. 

Solar panels powering water systems have also been directly targeted on several occasions.

In the predominantly Christian village of Debel, solar panels supporting the community water well were hit on April 26.

Sonia Ben Salem of Action Against Hunger, which used satellite imagery to verify damage at hundreds of sites, said water would be fundamental to any large-scale return to southern Lebanon.

“Without it,” she said, “we cannot see a massive return to those areas.”

Israel has also destroyed all bridges over the Litani River, according to the investigation. Only two had been partially repaired.

Farmland and olive groves

Agricultural areas have also suffered extensive damage.

Lebanon's Agriculture Ministry estimates that more than 20% of farmland and forests in southern Lebanon have been destroyed and has accused Israel of removing trees.

The region's ancient olive groves have been particularly affected. Southern Lebanon produces roughly 40% of Lebanon's olive harvest, and officials say tens of thousands of trees will need to be replanted. 

The environmental damage extends further.

Lebanon's Environment Ministry and rights groups have documented what they describe as widespread Israeli use of white phosphorus in populated and agricultural areas. White phosphorus can ignite fires and leave contamination in soil and water.

Israel says it uses the incendiary substance lawfully to clear vegetation and create smoke screens, but the investigation notes that its use over populated areas can violate international law. 

The Environment Ministry has also accused Israel of spraying herbicides over 2,000 hectares of agricultural land during the three years of conflict, citing soil samples collected from border areas. Lebanese authorities have described the alleged practice as “ecocide.” 

Healthcare under attack

The destruction has also severely weakened healthcare in the south.

Dozens of medical facilities have been damaged or destroyed by airstrikes, while Lebanon's Health Ministry says 135 healthcare professionals have been killed while on duty.

Many were killed in what are known as double-, triple- or quadruple-tap attacks, in which the same location is struck again minutes or hours after an initial attack, potentially hitting medics and civilians who arrive to assist victims.

Insecurity Insight, which monitors attacks on healthcare worldwide, documented more than 30 such incidents. The FT and Lighthouse independently verified and geolocated footage from 10 of them. 

Israel says it does not target healthcare workers or medical facilities, but alleges that Hezbollah uses ambulances, hospitals and other healthcare facilities for military purposes.

Officials, diplomats and non-governmental organizations told the investigation that Israel rarely provides evidence for specific allegations.

Christina Wille, director of Insecurity Insight, said medical personnel are protected under international law even when affiliated with Hezbollah, unless they themselves engage in acts harmful to the opposing side.

Heritage reduced to rubble

The destruction has also reached southern Lebanon's cultural heritage.

The investigation documented damage to 16th-century mosques, 19th-century libraries, religious shrines, ancient Roman ruins and Crusader castles, as well as other historic sites.

Joanne Farchakh Bajjaly of Biladi, an organization dedicated to preserving Lebanon's cultural heritage, said the destruction was making historic communities unrecognizable and severing people's connections with their land and history.

“How can they rebuild their communities if everything is gone?” she said. 

The legal question

The scale of the destruction has prompted questions about whether Israel's actions comply with international humanitarian law.

Janina Dill, an Oxford University expert on the law and ethics of war, said the destruction of villages under Israel's effective control falls under the more restrictive law of occupation.

Under that framework, an occupying power may destroy civilian property only when required by “imperative military necessity.”

Dill said a general assertion that Hezbollah might return and use civilian structures in the future would not by itself justify destroying them.

“It’s deeply implausible that imperative military necessity applies to every house in a particular village,” she said. 

Amnesty International's Kristine Beckerle said that preventing forcibly displaced civilians from returning to their homes could amount to a war crime.

More than 400,000 displaced people have returned south, according to the Lebanese government, but many others remain displaced or are staying with relatives and friends or in damaged buildings without adequate services. 

The investigation does not conclude that every building destroyed by Israel was unlawfully targeted. Rather, it documents a broader pattern in which destruction has extended well beyond individual sites Israel identifies as Hezbollah infrastructure and has increasingly affected the civilian systems required for communities to survive.

A broader strategy

The FT-Lighthouse investigation places the destruction in southern Lebanon within a wider pattern of Israeli military operations since October 2023.

It notes that Israel has seized roughly 1,000 square kilometers across Lebanon, Syria and Gaza, relocating populations and creating devastated buffer zones.

One right-wing Israeli newspaper has called the approach the “rubble doctrine.”

Nathan Brown, a professor of international affairs at George Washington University, described it as an approach that allows Israel to act proactively against perceived threats before they fully emerge, particularly beyond its borders.

He said the approach represented a shift toward reconfiguring territories and populations through military force rather than diplomatic arrangements. 

In southern Lebanon, the result documented by FT and Lighthouse is a landscape where the destruction is no longer confined to the immediate consequences of combat.

Homes have been demolished alongside the water systems, roads, bridges, schools, healthcare facilities, agricultural land and historic sites needed to sustain civilian communities.

And as US-brokered talks between Lebanon and Israel continue, with the stated goal of an Israeli withdrawal and a longer-term peace agreement, Israeli forces continue to control parts of the south.

For residents such as Bint Jbeil's Fadia Bazzi, the consequences are deeply personal. Displaced from her hometown, she has been left relying on satellite images and videos to discover whether the house she spent years building still exists.

The FT-Lighthouse investigation suggests that for many residents, the question is no longer simply whether their homes survived the war, but whether the towns and infrastructure that made those homes livable will still exist when they are finally allowed to return.