Senior Israeli and Lebanese officials denied on Thursday that there had been any Israeli withdrawal from occupied southern Lebanon, after a US official said Israel had pulled some troops back in a good faith gesture toward Lebanon’s government. Israel and Lebanon have been discussing a US-backed proposal for Israeli forces to hand some of the territory they occupied in their war with Hezbollah to Lebanon’s military, in a possible step toward restoring Lebanese control in the south.
The “pilot zone” proposal has been part of the latest round of Israeli-Lebanese talks in Washington mediated by the US, which resumed even as they appeared to be eclipsed by Iran’s move to make Lebanon central to its own talks with Washington. A US State Department official said that “Israel has already taken a concrete step by pulling back from a part of its buffer zone”. The so-called buffer zone is a vast area of southern Lebanon that Israeli forces are occupying north of the Israeli border.
The official described the move as “a significant demonstration of good faith toward Lebanon’s legitimate government.” “The (Lebanese Armed Forces) should now move in and verifiably clear out weapons and infrastructure. This model will be repeated across South Lebanon, enabling the safe return of displaced families, reconstruction of the south and the restoration of full Lebanese sovereignty,” the official added.
A senior Israeli defence official denied there had been any kind of pullback or withdrawal by Israeli forces and said Israel would not be withdrawing from its buffer zone. A senior Lebanese military official said developments on the ground in recent days “show the opposite of a pullback”. Israel has been enforcing its buffer zone against anyone approaching, including the Lebanese army, the official said. Israel’s military said in a statement there had been no change in the location of its soldiers in the zone.
Israel has established what it describes as a buffer zone about 10 km into Lebanon from the Israeli border. Its military has forced the local Lebanese population from their homes and carried out raids on villages, destroying buildings. Israeli officials say the area is supposed to protect communities in Israel’s north from Hezbollah attacks. It says it has found Hezbollah weapons. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly said that the military would not be withdrawing from the area.
The talks on handing over Lebanese territory to the Lebanese army were for a few areas outside the buffer zone, not within it, the senior Israeli official said. — Reuters
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