Illustrative image. (The Israeli Defense Forces)
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on March 14 that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) would remain deployed at five strategic points in southern Lebanon “indefinitely.”
According to a statement released by Katz’s office, the minister clarified during an assessment that was held with IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir and other top military officials said a day earlier that the military “will remain at the five points that control the buffer zone in Lebanon, indefinitely, for the sake of protecting the residents of the north, and this is without any connection to future negotiations on points of dispute on the border.”
Katz instructed the IDF to fortify its positions at the five strategic points and prepare to stay there for a long period, his office added.
The IDF was supposed to pull out all troops from southern Lebanon before February 18 as a part of the ceasefire agreement broken by the United States last November. However, Israel kept five strategic posts in the region, reportedly with permission from Washington.
The posts are located at a hill near the town of Labbouneh, across from the the Israeli border settlement of Shlomi; the Jabal Blat peak, across from the settlement of Zar’it; a hill across from the settlements of Avivim and Malkia; a hill across from the settlement of Margaliot; and a hill across from the settlement of Metula. None of these positions are populated.
The ceasefire ended more than 14 months of clashes with Hezbollah, but the IDF continues to launch strikes against the group.
Hezbollah initiated the confrontation a day after the October 7 surprise attack on Israel to back the Hamas Movement in the Gaza Strip.
Earlier this week, Israel and Lebanon held direct talks to resolve long-running issues about their shared border, and Israel returned five Lebanese prisoners it had arrested in the fighting in what was described as a gesture of good will to newly-elected Lebanese president Joseph Aoun.
While an Israeli official has said the talks also aim to reach normalization of bilateral relations, a Lebanese source quoted by the pro-Iran Al-Mayadeen channel stated that ties with Israel are not on the table.
Hezbollah was deeply weakened during the last confrontation with Israel, losing nearly all of its leadership and a large part of its military capabilities. Now, Israel is working to capitalize on this. Meanwhile, the group appears to be exercising strategic patience.
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