Israel has been expanding its network of outposts and fortifications in Syria and Lebanon, intensifying concerns about a prolonged occupation in parts of these countries.

Israel claims it aims to prevent further surprise attacks across its borders, reminiscent of the October 2023 Hamas-led assault that sparked the war in Gaza. It has not specified how long its forces will remain in neighboring territories, which host groups hostile to Israel.

However, signs suggest that Israel is preparing for an indefinite presence, according to a visual analysis conducted by The New Times.

The military has erected watchtowers, constructed prefabricated housing modules, roads, and communication infrastructure, as per local residents and the United Nations. A January image of an area near the Syrian town of Jubata al-Khashab reveals heavy equipment at work and a newly built perimeter wall.

The most significant military presence has been observed in the demilitarized buffer zone in Syria, where Israeli forces have established positions and set up roadblocks, extending beyond the zone that was created after the 1973 Arab-Israeli war. They have also stationed themselves on a hill overlooking the village of Kodana.

“They claim it’s temporary, but judging by what they’re building, it looks like they are preparing to stay for a long time,” stated Omar Tahan, a local leader in Kodana.

Israel also asserts that its forces will remain in five locations in southern Lebanon to defend Israeli communities from potential threats.

Initially part of a cease-fire agreement reached in late November promising withdrawal from Lebanon, the deadline was extended, with further negotiations currently ongoing.

In addition to the conflict in Gaza, Israel has been engaged in combat along its northern border with Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militia based in Lebanon. Following the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attack, which initiated the war, Hezbollah began firing rockets and drones at Israeli positions, triggering retaliatory strikes and displacing thousands on both sides of the border.

Last summer, Israel launched a substantial aerial campaign and ground invasion, leading to the deaths of Hezbollah’s top leadership and many fighters, with approximately 4,000 people killed in Lebanon and over 16,000 injured, as per Lebanese authorities.

An incursion into Syria

Israel asserts its presence in southern Syria, where it operates at least nine outposts, is to protect communities in northern Israel. It has expressed distrust of the new Islamist rebel-led government in Damascus.

Following the 1973 surprise assault by Syria, which caught Israel off guard, Israel and Syria agreed to a cease-fire in 1974, establishing a buffer zone where neither military would operate. However, after the fall of President Bashar al-Assad, Israeli forces advanced into the buffer zone and beyond, with Israeli warplanes conducting hundreds of strikes on military sites across Syria.

Syria’s acting president, Ahmed al-Shara, maintains the commitment to the 1974 cease-fire, but Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claims the agreement “collapsed” with Mr. al-Assad’s ouster and now demands “complete demilitarization” of much of southern Syria “from the forces of the new regime.”

Last month, Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz stated that the country’s forces were prepared to remain in the buffer zone, where thousands of Syrian residents live, “for an indefinite period.” The military also continued raids deeper into southern Syria.

Moreover, Mr. Katz announced that his government would begin granting permits to some Syrians to enter the Golan Heights for work. Israel captured the territory from Syria in the 1967 war and later annexed it, although much of the world views the Golan Heights as occupied Syrian territory.

In recent weeks, Israeli vehicles have been operating along the buffer area. A January photo revealed construction vehicles at work near the town of Quneitra.

<%={image:10}%>Satellite images from Planet Labs captured on Jan. 21 show a newly built outpost and a 75-acre bulldozed area near Jubata al-Khashab.

Israeli forces have occupied abandoned outposts, constructing fortifications and concrete watchtowers, including a hilltop outpost overlooking nearby Hader in Syria and Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights.

Elsewhere, construction equipment is building access roads for the military outposts and digging defensive lines along the Alpha Line, separating the Golan Heights from the buffer zone. The Israeli military claims its engineers are reinforcing the border barrier as part of its security measures.

Staying put in Lebanon

In Lebanon, Israeli forces have established outposts in five locations despite earlier agreements to leave by January.

Israel has long feared surprise attacks from Hezbollah’s strongholds in southern Lebanon. As part of the cease-fire, the Lebanese army was to assume control in the area, which it has initiated. However, Israel continues to bomb southern Lebanon, alleging Hezbollah’s violation of the truce.

Over 90,000 people in Lebanon, particularly from devastated villages along the border, remain displaced, with many homes destroyed.

Satellite images and videos reveal Israel building military installations on the Lebanese side of the border. The Times identified the locations of the five outposts.

At one site, near the eastern Lebanese town of Khiam, satellite images show a path leading to a rectangular structure characteristic of a military outpost built this year, with vehicles parked inside.

<%={image:11}%>

Photos also depict an Israeli flag planted at the site, with trees in the vicinity cleared recently.

Another outpost has been between the towns of Markaba and Houla. Satellite images from March reveal a new, wider path leading to a rectangular outpost with cars parked inside. The nearby area was cleared of debris.

The UN peacekeeping force UNIFIL, monitoring the conflict along the Lebanon-Israel border, has two outposts within 400 yards of the new Israeli site. Videos reviewed by The Times show Israeli forces operating nearby.

In another location on the southern Lebanese border with Israel, near the town of Aitaroun, satellite imagery shows the early stages of a similar walled, rectangular structure with vehicles inside on top of a mountain. Satellite imagery also reveals the early stages of similar structures being built around a hilltop near Marwahin, overlooking the Israeli settlement of Zar’it.

<%={image:12}%>

Satellite imagery and photographs confirm that new concrete blocks and barbed wire have been placed around this section of the border wall.

Footage published by a reporter for al-Manar, Hezbollah’s TV channel, verified by The Times, shows Israeli forces in the area after the withdrawal deadline, with one video depicting a soldier raising an Israeli flag.