Lebanese army security test planned for three southern villages
The US says three villages will trial a framework for Israeli withdrawal, Lebanese army deployment and Hezbollah disarmament in southern Lebanon.
By Sofia Marchetti · World Affairs Correspondent
3 min read
The United States says Lebanon’s army is due to assume security duties in three southern villages under a trial phase of a US-mediated framework with Israel. The plan is significant because it links Israeli military withdrawals to Lebanese army control and the removal of Hezbollah weapons and infrastructure.
The US State Department on Monday identified Froun, Srifa and Zawtar al-Gharbiya as the first “pilot zone” villages for the arrangement. Under the framework, Israeli forces would leave occupied positions in stages, after which the Lebanese Armed Forces would take charge of security, according to the State Department.
The department said the step followed talks between Israel and Lebanon in Rome last week. It said Washington would keep working with both sides to complete implementation of the framework.
Lebanon, Israel and the United States agreed to the framework on June 26 after six rounds of direct negotiations, according to Al Jazeera and AFP. The arrangement requires the Lebanese army to show that areas it takes over have been cleared of Hezbollah arms and military infrastructure.
The agreement has not stopped fighting. Al Jazeera and AFP reported that Israel has continued attacks inside Lebanon while Hezbollah has launched rockets into northern Israel.
Hezbollah, which Al Jazeera and AFP describe as backed by Iran, has rejected the deal. The group says Israel must withdraw from Lebanon without conditions, according to the report.
Withdrawal timing remains unclear
Local accounts on Monday raised questions about whether the pilot phase had begun on the ground. A security source told Al Jazeera that the Lebanese army had not deployed to Zawtar al-Gharbiya because Israeli forces remained in occupied areas on the town’s outskirts.
The mayor of Froun told Al Jazeera there had been no new developments in the village and that conditions had not changed. Srifa’s mayor said he had not been told about the pilot zones and said the Lebanese army had already maintained a presence there throughout the war.
The framework does not set a date for Israeli forces to leave the areas they hold, according to Al Jazeera and AFP. The report said those areas amount to about one-fifth of Lebanese territory.
Israeli officials have said their forces will remain 10km, or 6 miles, inside Lebanon as a “security zone” for as long as Hezbollah remains armed, according to Al Jazeera and AFP. Axios reported Monday afternoon that Israeli forces were expected to withdraw from the pilot zones on Tuesday.
The latest round of fighting began in March, when Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel after the United States and Israel killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei at the start of a five-month war on Iran, according to Al Jazeera and AFP.
Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health says 4,328 Lebanese people have been killed since March and more than one million have been displaced. At least 32 Israeli soldiers and four Israeli civilians have been killed in the same period, most of them in southern Lebanon, according to Al Jazeera and AFP.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.