Israel took control of more land from its neighbors since Oct. 7 than it has in decades

In its multiple regional conflicts since the Hamas onslaught of October 7, 2023, Israel has seized swaths of Gaza, Lebanon and Syria that amount to its biggest territorial expansion in decades.

It is an area larger than many major cities — roughly 1,000 square kilometers (386 square miles) — and Israel currently has no plans to withdraw. It says the “buffer zones” it has established in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria are required to prevent future attacks.

In Gaza and Lebanon, Israeli land seizures and evacuation warnings amid its wars with the Hamas and Hezbollah terror groups have pushed out more than 3 million people, and troops have demolished towns and neighborhoods, creating large, depopulated zones.

The buffer zones — equivalent to roughly 5% of Israel’s area soon after its founding — are not new borders, which require an agreement between two countries. But many fear these changes could become long-lasting.

Iran has made Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon a condition for ending its war with the US. Jerusalem has said it has no plans to do so.

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Since its founding in 1948, Israel has never had clear borders. Its boundaries have shifted through wars, annexations, ceasefires and peace agreements.

Here is a deeper look at the Israeli expansions:

Lebanon

Israel and Hezbollah have fought multiple wars since the Iran-backed Lebanese terror group was formed in 1982.

Israel occupied much of southern Lebanon in 1982–2000, saying it was necessary to protect northern Israeli communities. After Israel’s withdrawal in 2000, the United Nations drew up a boundary between the two countries.

Israeli troops operate in southern Lebanon, in a photo cleared for publication May 24, 2026. (Israel Defense Forces)

Hezbollah began assaulting Israel with daily rocket fire shortly after Hamas’s October 7 attack. Israeli forces invaded Lebanon in September 2024 to stem Hezbollah’s attacks on northern Israel.

The Israel Defense Force later mostly withdrew under a November 2024 ceasefire deal, but held on to five border points inside Lebanon. However, in March 2026,  Hezbollah renewed its rocket and drone attacks on northern Israel, dragging Lebanon into the wider regional war with Iran, and a new Israeli campaign in south Lebanon was launched.

On Thursday, the IDF published an updated map of its security zone in southern Lebanon, saying it would not be withdrawing from the territory at this stage. Stretching east to west, the deployment line on the map runs up to 10 kilometers (6 miles) deep from the border into Lebanese territory.

According to experts with the Carnegie Middle East Center, Israel now holds 608 square kilometers (234 square miles) in Lebanon.

A map published by the IDF, showing its forward defense line in southern Lebanon, June 18, 2026. (Israel Defense Forces)

Evacuation warnings have forced about 1.2 million Lebanese to flee, and Israel has warned civilians against returning.

Hezbollah has condemned Israel’s presence inside Lebanon, and the Lebanese government has called for Israel to withdraw. Israel says its deployment is essential so long as Hezbollah remains a threat, amid Beirut’s reluctance to confront the terror group head on.

Gaza

Israel seized the Gaza Strip from Egypt in the Six Day War of June 1967, and unilaterally withdrew from the territory in 2005.

Two years later, Hamas took over the territory in a bloody coup against the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority.

Hamas’s October 7 onslaught, in which it killed 1,200 people and abducted 21 to Gaza, unleashed Israel’s devastating offensive in the Strip. Israel eventually withdrew to a zone demarcated by the so-called Yellow Line as part of a ceasefire and hostage deal with Hamas in October 2025.

A Palestinian man rides on a cart pulled by a donkey near a concrete block marking the Yellow Line drawn by the Israeli military in Bureij, central Gaza Strip, on November 4, 2025. (Bashar Taleb / AFP)

The deal gave Israel control of just over half the Strip, with the rest of the enclave under de facto Hamas control.

The agreement was envisioned as part of a larger process that would disarm Hamas, demilitarize Gaza and ensure a fuller Israeli withdrawal. Progress has stalled amid Hamas’s refusal to disarm and Israel’s continued strikes deep inside Gaza.

Since the agreement, Israel has also moved the Yellow Line gradually westward, expanding the areas under its control to more than 60% of Gaza — 194 square kilometers (75 square miles), according to Israeli human rights group Gisha. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israeli control of Gaza will increase to 70%.

Almost the entire population of Gaza, more than 2 million people, has been squeezed into the Hamas-controlled side of the Strip, where they live in vast, squalid tent cities dependent on international aid.

Tents housing displaced Palestinian families are seen in the c…