'Israel' to keep south Lebanon buffer zone: Hebrew media
Note: AI technology was used to generate this article’s audio.
- 'Israel' said transferring designated pilot zones to the Lebanese Army will take several weeks.
- 'Israeli' officials assessed the Lebanese Army is not yet capable of disarming Hezbollah.
- 'Israel' plans to maintain a security buffer in southern Lebanon while continuing clearance operations.
'Israel' will maintain a deep security buffer zone in southern Lebanon and continue conducting sweeping clearing operations along the border, an 'Israeli' official told the Hebrew daily Yedioth Ahronoth, amid deep skepticism over the Lebanese military's operational capabilities.
The statements follow a recently brokered US framework agreement designed to establish "pilot zones" in southern Lebanon, where the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) are slated to assume exclusive security control.
However, the official noted that transferring these initial pilot sectors will be a prolonged process, estimating it will take "several weeks" before the Lebanese Army is structurally prepared to deploy.
According to the 'Israeli' defense establishment's assessment, the Lebanese Armed Forces lack the structural mandate, heavy weaponry, and tactical power necessary to enforce the disarmament clauses of the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
"Our assessment is that the Lebanese Army is incapable of dismantling Hezbollah," the official stated plainly.
Consequently, 'Israel' does not intend to execute a rapid or complete withdrawal from the frontier. The official emphasized that 'Israeli' forces will remain dug into a strategic "security strip" extending several kilometers deep into Lebanese territory.
The primary objective of the ongoing deployment is to push hostile elements away from northern 'Israeli' border towns and execute a thorough clearing of residual underground attack tunnels and weapons caches before any wider diplomatic transition can occur.
