Galilee

Galilee is a mountainous region of northern Israel, stretching from the Mediterranean coast east to the Jordan Valley and bordering Lebanon to the north. It is home to major population centres including Haifa, Nazareth, and Nahariya, and has served as Israel's northern frontier in every major conflict with Lebanon since the 1982 Operation Peace for Galilee invasion — named for this region.

Galilee has been under active attack throughout the 2026 war. Hezbollah fired over 100 rockets at northern Israel in a declared joint operation with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), with sirens sounding across the Galilee . A rocket struck a residential building in Nahariya, wounding six including four children . The IDF 91st 'Galilee' Division, named for the region it defends, crossed into eastern southern Lebanon on 13 March to establish forward positions . By 1-2 June 2026, Israeli forces captured Beaufort Castle above the Litani — held for the first time since the 2000 withdrawal — and advanced to approximately 10 km north of the Litani toward the Zaharani river in the deepest push in 25 years , placing the ground operation well north of any previous 2026 incursion.

Galilee's strategic exposure is the core argument for Israel's southern Lebanon campaign. The IDF's destruction of Litani River bridges and the Qasmiyeh Bridge is designed to isolate Hezbollah's southern zone ; whether those operations protect Galilee's population or entrench Israel in a repeat of the 1982-2000 occupation cycle remains the defining open question.