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Withdrawal begins in Zawtar
Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam visited Zawtar Al Gharbiyeh on Wednesday as a Washington-brokered Lebanese-Israeli agreement began to be implemented, following months of war between Israel and Hezbollah.
“Lebanese President Joseph Aoun is in Washington, DC, seeking the backing of the United States for an Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon and support for its army as it moves to assert control over areas long dominated by Hezbollah”
Salam said, “We have insisted since the beginning that our goal is the complete Israeli withdrawal from all our territory,” as he planted a Lebanese flag near a destroyed building in the town.
The CBC reported that the latest conflict started March 2, when Hezbollah fired rockets toward Israel in response to U.S.-Israeli attacks that set off the Iran war, and that Israel then launched an aerial campaign and ground invasion in Lebanon, killing more than 4,000 people and displacing roughly 1.2 million others.
The BBC said the Lebanese army did not immediately allow civilians to enter as it cleared unexploded ordnance, and residents tried to storm the barrier to check on their homes and properties.
In the same setting, Zaynab Ismail told Reuters, “The prime minister should have informed people that he was going to Zawtar and he should have taken the people, who have been waiting for the past two days, with him.”
Hezbollah questions next steps
Hezbollah questioned the Lebanese state’s next steps after the Lebanese army deployed to Zawtar Al-Gharbiyeh, which Arab News described as part of a pilot initiative linked to the U.S.-brokered framework for an Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah MP Hussein Hajj Hassan said the Washington summit delivered “American promises without guarantees,” adding that Israeli forces were not present in the center of Zawtar Al-Gharbiyeh but on its outskirts.
Arab News also quoted Hajj Hassan saying, “There will be no dialogue with those who attack us, destroy our land and homes, and kill our people,” while stopping short of criticizing the Lebanese army and stressing “ongoing cooperation and trust between the party and the military institution.”
The BBC framed the pilot-zone deployment as a test of the Lebanese army’s sovereignty after Israeli forces withdrew under a U.S.-brokered agreement, with engineering units entering Zawtar al-Gharbiyeh in Nabatieh district on Tuesday morning.
In the BBC’s account of the immediate friction around the deployment, Israel’s military said warning shots had been fired after the troops crossed into the Israeli-declared “security zone.”
Implementation hinges on return
Lebanon’s leaders tied the pilot-zone process to rebuilding and the return of displaced residents, with Salam saying the government would “continue opening roads, removing rubble, and securing essential services, enabling our people to return safely and with dignity.”
“Salam: Israeli withdrawal is the start of a path we are working to complete across all of Lebanon”
Naharnet reported that dozens of residents waited at the village’s entrance for permission to go check on their homes, and it quoted Abbas Yaghi, 73, saying, “We will enter the town with our heads held high, thanks to the presence of the Lebanese Army.”
The BBC added that the pilot zone plan should see Israeli troops pulling out of a small part of the territory occupied during their conflict with Hezbollah and the disarmament of the Iran-backed Lebanese group, while Israel’s military said it would remain in the “security zone” for “as long as necessary.”
In Al Jazeera’s account, the town’s mayor Abed Ezzeddin said, “Army engineering teams have entered Zawtar al-Gharbiyeh, and we are waiting for further instructions,” and he questioned whether residents could return safely while Israeli forces remained in neighbouring Zawtar al-Sharqiyeh.
Al Jazeera also reported that the agreement’s implementation exposed challenges for Joseph Aoun’s government, as Hezbollah rejected the agreement and Israel insisted it will not fully withdraw unless the group is fully disarmed, with the violence having killed more than 4,300 people and displaced 1.2 million others since March.
