Israel’s defense minister, Israel Katz, said Tuesday that Israel will maintain security control over much of southern Lebanon up to the Litani River once hostilities cease. As battles with Hezbollah rage across the border, Katz laid out a plan for the day after.

After conducting a security assessment with senior military officials, Katz said the IDF would “stabilize in a security zone inside Lebanon” and “control the entire area up to the Litani.” He also said that the 600,000 or so Lebanese citizens who had been displaced due to the fighting will not be allowed to return to their homes until safety for the northern Israeli communities has been secured. Homes near the border would also be demolished, following the Rafah and Beit Hanoun model in Gaza, he added.

He said Israel has decided upon three goals in the war with Hezbollah and is determined to see them through: keep the wars with Lebanon and Iran separate, deprive Hezbollah of its ability to threaten Israel and enforce a permanent change in the security situation in Lebanon, which would be accomplished via a strong Israeli military presence “in the required places.”

With the buffer zone extending possibly as much as 20 miles into southern Lebanese territory, Katz has given the clearest signal so far of Israel’s intention to create and control a wide buffer zone.

Katz’s comments were made amid the expanded Israeli campaign against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, after Israel began its initiative following the Iran-backed terror group’s decision to join the war on behalf of Iran. Israel had already announced its intention to take security control of southern Lebanon up to the Litani River, which lies roughly 15 to 20 miles north of the border with Israel.