IDF Troops Will Remain in Five Outposts in Lebanon

The ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon, signed on Nov. 27, 2024, requires both Israel and Hezbollah to leave the area between the Litani River and Lebanon’s border with Israel. But Hezbollah has not removed many of its combatants and continues to hide weapons inside civilian villages in that territory. The Lebanese Army was supposed to enforce its side of the agreement by forcing Hezbollah forces north of the Litani River, but has been slow to confront Hezbollah operatives that remain south of the Litani. As a consequence, the IDF has decided to remain inside Lebanon at five outposts, and also to build up its forces inside Israel on the border with Lebanon, tripling its prewar levels. More on the situation one month after the original date set for the IDF withdrawal from southern Lebanon can be found here.

The IDF withdrew most of its forces from southern Lebanon early Tuesday. It intends to maintain five outposts a few hundred meters from the border, with each manned by a company of troops for an indefinite period.

Overnight on Tuesday, the Lebanese army started to deploy in villages the IDF was leaving.

The Lebanese army said its units had deployed late Monday and early Tuesday in Al-Abbasiya, Al-Majidiya, and Kafr Kila-Marjayoun in the eastern sector; Al-Adisa, Markaba, Houla, Mays al-Jabal, Blida, and Mehibib-Marjayoun in the central sector; and Maroun al-Ras and the remaining part of Yaroun-Bint Jbeil in another sector.

It said its forces also had deployed in other border locations in the area south of the Litani River, in coordination with the Five-Party Committee overseeing the ceasefire agreement (mechanism) and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

“Specialized units have begun conducting engineering surveys, clearing roads, and handling unexploded ordnance and suspicious objects in these areas,” the Lebanese army said.

“The Army Command emphasizes the necessity for citizens to comply with the instructions of the military units deployed in the southern regions to facilitate the completion of these tasks as quickly as possible, while ensuring their safety and well-being,” it said….

A spokesperson for the Lebanese presidency on Tuesday said his country would consider any Israeli presence on its territory as an “occupation.”…

The Lebanese Army got off to a slow start in its campaign to push Hezbollah north of the Litani. It has benefited from an infusion of American money, and lately, according to the IDF, has become bolder in confronting Hezbollah forces. This is what the IDF has been waiting for. It has no desire to remain in Lebanon, but until Hezbollah has been removed from all of its positions, realizes that it will have to keep forces in southern Lebanon — hence the five outposts it plans to keep inside Lebanon until it is satisfied that almost all of Hezbollah’s forces have indeed been moved north of the Litani.

The Lebanese army has become more aggressive in confronting Hezbollah, and has improved its ability to detect Hezbollah violations of the ceasefire agreement, as when, for example, it tries to hide weapons inside civilian houses in the south.

It is that area in Lebanon, five to six kilometers in depth, along the border with Israel, where Hezbollah was most threatening to Israeli communities in the Galilee. Now the IDF has cleared that area almost completely of Hezbollah weapons.

The five IDF outposts inside Lebanon, that the IDF does not intend to be permanent but may remain in place for between four and eight months, or even up to a year, should not raise any serious objections from the Lebanese government. President Joseph Aoun may, for appearances, express feigned displeasure with such a move by the IDF, but he is adamantly opposed to Hezbollah and would welcome the IDF’s help given to the Lebanese National Army (LNA), allowing it to keep Hezbollah from re-establishing itself in the south. After all, the IDF soldiers manning those outposts are engaged in helping the Lebanese army push Hezbollah out of southern Lebanon, both by detecting, and destroying, the terror group’s weapons stockpiles themselves, and by providing the Lebanese army with intelligence as to the location of both Hezbollah operatives and their weapons, so that the LNA can fulfill its obligations under  the ceasefire agreement: sweep southern Lebanon clean of Hezbollah, and force it to remain north of the Litani River.