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Pilot zone handover begins
Lebanese army troops began deploying in the southern Lebanese town of Zawtar al-Gharbiyeh on Tuesday after Israeli forces withdrew from the area, a senior Lebanese security official said in line with a US-brokered plan.
“BEIRUT, July 21 (Reuters) – Lebanese army troops began deploying in the southern Lebanese town of Zawtar al-Gharbiyeh on Tuesday after Israeli forces withdrew from the area, a senior Lebanese security official said, in line with a U”
The plan foresees Lebanese army troops confiscating weapons from the Iran-aligned Hezbollah group in parts of southern Lebanon and phased withdrawals of Israeli troops, with the Israeli military saying the pilot zone program had begun.
The handover is the first test of the plan that Lebanon hopes will restore control over a strip of land about 10 kilometres deep into the country that remains occupied by Israeli troops, where dozens of villages have been razed and public infrastructure including hospitals, power stations and water pumps has been destroyed.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun told US President Donald Trump that a full Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territory was essential to consolidating stability and enabling the Lebanese state to extend its full sovereignty exclusively through its own forces.
In the same deployment, the Israeli military said its troops fired warning shots into the air after Lebanese army personnel accompanied by an engineering vehicle crossed about 150 metres into what it calls the security zone near neighbouring Zawtar al-Sharqiyeh and breached barriers.
Fire dispute and diplomatic push
As Lebanese forces moved into the pilot zone, the Lebanese army said Israeli forces fired near its units during the deployment, warning that the incident could obstruct the steps being carried out.
The Israeli military said Lebanese personnel withdrew and no injuries were reported after it fired warning shots into the air following the crossing of about 150 metres into the security zone near Zawtar al-Sharqiyeh.
Trump told Aoun in the Oval Office, "It's been a very badly treated place and country, and we're going to have it properly treated and treated with the respect it deserves," and said, "There's a Hezbollah problem."
Aoun pressed for the "full Israeli withdrawal" from Lebanese territory during his meeting with Trump, while the Lebanese presidency said the talks also covered plans to disarm Hezbollah and secure Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon.
The New Arab reported that Aoun said the Lebanese Armed Forces are the "backbone of security and stability" and warned, "Without the LAF, everything will collapse."
Flights, verification, and next steps
Hours after the meeting, Trump announced on social media that he was directing his administration to allow all U.S. airline carriers to fly directly to Lebanon, after the route had been suspended for more than forty years.
“Southern Lebanon – The Lebanese army has entered Zawtar al-Gharbiya, one of the three towns it is expected to take control of in the first phase of a 'pilot zone' project that is part of a larger framework agreement between Lebanon and Israel signed in Washington, DC, last month”
The ABC7 Los Angeles report tied the announcement to the June 26 framework agreement that sets a plan for Israeli forces to withdraw and for the disarmament of Hezbollah, with implementation beginning in small pilot zones.
The US State Department said Monday that operations in three villages of one pilot zone had begun, naming Froun and Srifa and placing Zawtar al-Gharbieh at the center of the first test after Israeli forces were at one point in a part of the third village.
France 24 said the framework agreement signed on June 26 envisions a phased Israeli pullback, with the Lebanese Armed Forces assuming sole security control of vacated areas and certifying that they have been cleared of Hezbollah weapons and infrastructure.
A separate Reuters account said the pilot serves as a test of the Lebanese Armed Forces’ sovereignty in the three pilot villages, as the sole official authority authorised to bear arms in the area, while the Lebanese army renewed a call for residents not to enter Zawtar al-Gharbiyeh until the security situation stabilises.
