Israel is building a buffer zone inside Lebanon

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

55% : Shira Efron, a senior fellow at the research group RAND describes Israel's view.
52% : Israel and Lebanon held historic talks today in Washington.
51% : Israel first wants to see Lebanon take steps to disarm Hezbollah.
50% : Buffer zones in Lebanon and also in Gaza are part of Israel's new defense doctrine after it was surprised by Hamas' attack in 2023.
49% : DANIEL ESTRIN, BYLINE: Soldiers cheered crossing the border from northern Israel into southern Lebanon a few weeks ago.
46% : But on the ground, Israel is expanding its occupation of southern Lebanon, maybe for years to come, as NPR's Daniel Estrin reports from Tel Aviv.
45% : Israel called that occupation a security zone to protect Israel's north.
45% : Under pressure from the U.S., Israel finally agreed to Lebanon's calls for diplomatic talks.
44% : That's when the Lebanese militia Hezbollah was formed to fight Israel's occupation.
40% : In the early 1980s, Israel occupied it to fight Palestinian militias there.
40% : A person briefed on the matter not authorized to speak publicly told NPR that until Israel sees progress, it has no intention of withdrawing from the buffer zone for the coming months and maybe years.
39% : They're seeking a diplomatic resolution to Israel's conflict with Hezbollah.
37% : After two decades, Israel retreated from Lebanon.
37% : The stated goal is to prevent Hezbollah from invading Israel, like Hamas did in 2023, and to push Hezbollah militants away from Lebanese villages near the border so Israelis aren't under threat of close-range rocket fire.
35% : Israel has a long history of invading southern Lebanon.
31% : They say Israel has destroyed about 40,000 homes and killed more than 2,000 people, mostly Hezbollah fighters, Israel says, and also civilians.
26% : But in the last couple of years of war, the Iranian-backed Hezbollah has fired rockets and drones at Israel, killing soldiers and civilians, and Israel has gone back into Lebanon. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU: (Speaking Hebrew).

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