Israel expands military control in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria by 1,000sq km
Key takeaways
- An Al Jazeera investigation and expert analysis reveal how Israel is redrawing borders in Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria to enforce unannounced buffer zones.
- This newly controlled territory amounts to roughly five percent of Israel’s total landmass prior to October 2023, which includes the occupied Palestinian territories and the occupied Syrian Golan Heights.
- Political and military analysts have told Al Jazeera that Israel’s vast territorial expansion is part of a policy of “strategic deception” and “geographic engineering”.
Why this matters: an international story with cross-border implications worth tracking.
An Al Jazeera investigation and expert analysis reveal how Israel is redrawing borders in Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria to enforce unannounced buffer zones.
xwhatsapp-strokecopylinkgoogle Add Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Israeli soldiers inside a compound of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in Gaza City [Jack Guez/ AFP]By Al Jazeera Staff and Mohammad Mansour Published On 14 Jun 202614 Jun 2026Israeli military maps have failed to reflect the true extent of the country’s territorial control since the war on Gaza began on October 7, 2023. A new probe by Al Jazeera’s open-source investigation unit reveals that Israeli forces have established a de facto military footprint across the Gaza Strip, southern Lebanon, and southern Syria covering approximately 1,000sq km (386 sq miles), a size larger than the whole of New York City.
This newly controlled territory amounts to roughly five percent of Israel’s total landmass prior to October 2023, which includes the occupied Palestinian territories and the occupied Syrian Golan Heights.