Hezbollah returns to areas from which IDF is expected to wthdraw

Hezbollah has begun establishing itself in the pilot areas of southern Lebanon from which the IDF is expected to withdraw under the agreements between Israel and Lebanon, Kan News reported Wednesday evening. According to the report, Hezbollah activity has recently been identified in these areas on a limited scale and under civilian cover. Israel and Lebanon, under US auspices, reached a framework agreement that includes pilot areas in southern Lebanon. Under the understandings, the IDF is expected to withdraw from those areas and transfer control to the Lebanese Armed Forces. Hezbollah activity was identified in the villages of Froun, Srifa, and Zotar al-Gharbiya. According to the report, the organization is attempting to gather intelligence and conduct damage assessments in these areas through local operatives, while operating under the radar and taking advantage of the Lebanese Armed Forces’ avoidance of confrontation. A Lebanese political official opposed to Hezbollah criticized the conduct of the state. “The Lebanese state is not doing what is required of it. If Hezbollah moves into every place Israel withdraws from, it only demonstrates how critical the issue of disarming Hezbollah is even before the Israeli withdrawal." Earlier, it was reported that Hezbollah had received $200 million from Iran intended to provide assistance to displaced Lebanese residents. According to sources cited in the report, this is the first significant aid the organization has provided to its Shiite supporters, who constitute the majority of the displaced. The money was transferred in cash last month amid growing difficulties in transferring funds from Iran to its proxies and US economic pressure.