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Airstrike and ceasefire
The Israel Defense Forces said a cell of Hezbollah operatives was targeted in an airstrike in southern Lebanon after troops of the Commando Brigade spotted the operatives riding motorcycles in the village of al-Aaqaide, near Nabatieh and close to Israel’s self-declared security zone.
“Hebrew media reports that Hezbollah is present in the southern Litani area down to the Zahrani River, and that preparations are underway to begin the experimental zones”
The IDF said the terrorists’ activity posed a threat to its forces and that they were struck “to remove the threat,” as Lebanese media had reported an Israeli airstrike between Kfar Tebnit and Nabatieh al-Fawqa near the Ali Taher ridge.
The military said it continues to operate at the Ali Taher ridge, beneath which the Iran-backed Hezbollah has a massive underground complex where some 30 operatives are holed up.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir toured the Beaufort Castle area in southern Lebanon during the morning, and he said the Beaufort Ridge is “saturated with terror infrastructure.”
Pilot zones and conditions
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened a security consultation on Sunday evening on Lebanon as the IDF prepares to hand over two limited withdrawal areas in southern Lebanon to the Lebanese army under the framework agreement signed between Israel and Lebanon.
The two areas are described in the agreement as “pilot areas” and are both in the Nabatieh region, near the towns of Frun and Zawtar al-Sharqiyah, with Israel waiting for the Lebanese army to announce it is ready to enter the areas and for U.S. Central Command approval.
The framework agreement provides for a partial Israeli withdrawal from designated areas while allowing the IDF to remain in most of the areas it controls inside the security zone until the threat from Hezbollah is removed, and it says the process will be mutual, gradual and based on clear conditions.
In a separate account of the same ceasefire framework, the Jerusalem Post quoted IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen Eyal Zamir saying Hezbollah is “exhausted” during a meeting with Israeli soldiers at the Beaufort Ridge, and it added that he entered an Israeli-controlled Hezbollah tunnel as part of an operational assessment.
What comes next
The IDF said it will not allow Hezbollah terrorists to exit the underground tunnel network or move in the area of the ridge, and it warned it is prepared to launch a rapid offensive if the ceasefire is violated.
“IDF troops from the 551st Brigade, operating under the 91st Division, identified an armed Hezbollah terrorist earlier on Saturday in the security zone near Majdal Zoun in southern Lebanon”
In the same reporting, Zamir said the Lebanese army “is required to fulfill its commitment under the historic agreement” signed in Washington last month, which calls for the disarmament of the Iran-backed terror group and the deployment of the Lebanese army starting with two “pilot” areas.
Israel National News described an IDF operation in the security zone near Majdal Zoun in southern Lebanon, saying IDF troops from the 551st Brigade operating under the 91st Division identified an armed Hezbollah terrorist, opened fire, pursued him, and then located and eliminated the terrorist.
Meanwhile, Gulf News said Israel won’t withdraw troops until Hezbollah disarms, and it reported that Lebanese authorities say Israeli attacks have killed around 4,300 people and displaced over one million, particularly from southern Lebanon and Beirut's southern suburbs.
