Israel to establish buffer zone in south Lebanon up to Litani River, defence minister says

JERUSALEM, March 31 (Reuters) - Israel will establish a buffer zone inside southern Lebanon and maintain control over the entire area up to the Litani River once the conflict with Hezbollah militants ends, Israel's defence minister said on Tuesday.

"At the end of the operation, the IDF would control the area up to the Litani River, including the remaining Litani bridges, while eliminating Radwan forces that infiltrated the area and destroying all weapons there," Israel Katz said in a statement following a security assessment, calling it a "security zone".

Radwan forces are an elite military unit of Hezbollah.

Katz said that the more than 600,000 Lebanese residents who have been evacuated northward would be barred from returning south of the Litani until the safety of residents in northern Israel is guaranteed.

To that end, "all homes in villages near the border in Lebanon would be destroyed, according to the model of Rafah and Beit Hanoun in Gaza, in order to permanently remove threats near the border to northern residents" in Israel, Katz said.

(Reporting by Steven Scheer)