Israel said it would destroy villages in southern Lebanon to create a buffer zone it plans to control even after its ground offensive against Hezbollah is over.

More than 600,000 people will be barred from returning to their homes in the area north of Israel, the defense minister said, part of a broader Israeli offensive into the country that critics have characterized as an invasion.

The plan, which sparked widespread international condemnation, points to Israel’s intention to reverse a decades-old decision to return seized territory to Lebanon. Israel, meanwhile, passed a law imposing the death penalty on Palestinians convicted of deadly terrorist acts, which if applied would “constitute a war crime,” the UN’s human rights chief said.