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

Cumulative territory seized in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza in regional conflict since Hamas’s attack is estimated at about 1,000 square kilometers

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Meanwhile, the IDF has bulldozed or demolished wide swaths of its side of the Strip. The military has said it is dismantling tunnels and buildings that have been booby-trapped.

The Israeli-controlled zone, where most of Gaza’s agricultural land lies, is inaccessible to Palestinians.

Syria

Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria during the Six Day War and later annexed it. The annexation is largely unrecognized by the international community, with the notable exception of the United States.

After the Yom Kippur War of October 1973, the UN created a buffer zone in southern Syria next to the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, patrolled by a UN force of about 1,100 troops.

In December 2024, after the surprise downfall of Syria’s longtime Iran-backed president Bashar al-Assad, Israel moved its troops into the UN buffer zone, saying it was concerned that Syrian rebels could attack Israel.

Israel also wanted to disrupt Iran’s ability to smuggle weapons through Syria to Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The UN and other critics say Israel’s seizure of land in Syria violates the two countries’ 1974 Disengagement Agreement. Civilians in the area have not been instructed to evacuate but have faced checkpoints and tension, with occasional clashes between Israeli soldiers and villagers.

The UN says the area seized by Israel following Assad’s downfall is 235 square kilometers (91 square miles). Syria’s interim president Ahmad al-Sharaa, who led the lightning offensive that toppled Assad, has called on Israel to withdraw from the territory.

West Bank

Israel has built well over 100 settlements in the West Bank since capturing the territory from Jordan in the Six Day War. They are considered illegal by much of the international community, again with the exception of the US under President Donald Trump.

According to left-wing Israeli group Peace Now, which tracks settlement activity, Netanyahu’s government has approved 47 new settlements and formalized or expanded 55 existing settlements since coming into power in late 2022.

Some of the new settlements approved recently are retroactive legalizations of tiny outposts, while others are neighborhoods of existing settlements.

The precipitous growth of settlements stems from settler leaders and supporters holding key positions in Israel’s government and a US administration that is largely pro-settlement.

The expanded settlements have put enormous restrictions on the daily lives of Palestinians, who say they are the main barrier to a lasting peace agreement because they are built on lands they seek for a future state.

Israel has also expanded counter-terrorism operations in the West Bank since the October 7 Hamas attack. A major operation in the northern West Bank early last year displaced tens of thousands of Palestinians.

Meanwhile, scores of Palestinian families have fled their homes due to a sharp uptick in settler violence since the October 7 attack. The near-daily attacks are rarely prosecuted. Many of them originate from wildcat outposts that nonetheless receive government support.