Lebanese army says troops deploying in ‘pilot zone’ after Israeli withdrawal

Lebanon’s army says its troops are deploying to a “pilot zone” in the south of the country following the withdrawal of Israeli forces under a US-brokered agreement reached last month.

Engineering units entered the village of Zawtar al-Gharbiyeh in Nabatieh district on Tuesday morning, the army command announced.

Later, it said Israeli forces had opened fire in the vicinity of the troops. Israel’s military said warning shots had been fired after the troops crossed into the Israeli-declared “security zone”.

The pilot zone plan should see Israeli troops pulling out of a small part of the territory occupied during their conflict with Hezbollah and the disarmament of the Iran-backed Lebanese group.

Tuesday’s deployment began ahead of a meeting in Washington between US President Donald Trump and his Lebanese counterpart, Joseph Aoun.

Aoun was expected to urge Trump to put pressure on Israel to withdraw from the rest of southern Lebanon and support the Lebanese army in taking full control of areas where Hezbollah holds sway.

“I told him [Trump] I need two things from you: political support and supporting the LAF [Lebanese Armed Forces],” Aoun told reporters in the Oval Office.

Speaking alongside Aoun, Trump vowed that the US would provide help to Lebanon which had been “hit hard” for decades.

“It’s been a very badly treated place and country, and we’re going to have it properly treated,” he said. “And treated with the respect it deserves.”

The US state department announced on Monday afternoon that “pilot zone operations” had begun in Zawtar al-Gharbiyeh and two other Lebanese villages, Froun and Srifa, in line with the Trilateral Framework agreed by Israel, Lebanon and the US at the end of June.

It said the “milestone” was the direct result of discussions last week between Israeli and Lebanese representatives in Rome.

Later on Monday, an Israeli military official confirmed the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) would “adjust its force posture in one of the pilot areas” to allow the Lebanese army to carry out its mission, while also “safeguarding the security of IDF soldiers and preserving its right to self-defence and to remove threats”.

“The objective of the pilot and the agreement is the disarmament of the Hezbollah terrorist organisation and the removal of its illegal weapons,” the official said.

They also reiterated that the IDF would remain in the “security zone” – the 10km (six-mile) deep strip of occupied Lebanese territory running along the border – for “as long as necessary” to defend northern Israeli communities.

On Tuesday, the Lebanese army’s command said its units had begun deploying to Zawtar al-Gharbiyeh “based on ongoing communications with the Military Co-ordination Group for Lebanon”, referring to the trilateral body created to support implementation of the framework.

The statement also called on Lebanese citizens “not to head to the village until the security situation stabilises, and to comply with the instructions of the deployed military units for their own safety”.

Later on Tuesday, the army command said Israeli forces had “opened fire in the vicinity of these units” and warned that the “attack hinders the implementation of deployment steps in the pilot zones”.

The IDF said its soldiers had fired “warning shots into the air” after the Lebanese troops and an engineering vehicle “crossed approximately 150m (490ft) into the security zone and breached the barriers” in the neighbouring area of Zawtar al-Sharqiyeh.

The Lebanese troops “withdrew from the area, and no injuries were reported”, it added.

The Lebanese army said its troops were already carrying out missions in nearby Froun and Srifa following Monday’s US announcement.

An Israeli source also told Haaretz newspaper that there were no Israeli troops in those villages.

Also on Tuesday, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said Israeli forces were behind two large explosions near the villages of Beit Yahoun and Kounine, in Bint Jbeil district. It also reported blasts from Israeli controlled demolitions in the town of Majdal Zoun, in Tyre district.

In areas still occupied by Israeli forces, many villages have been completely destroyed by Israeli strikes or demolitions.

The Israeli military says it has been destroying Hezbollah infrastructure, but human rights groups say some of what has happened there amounts to the deliberate destruction of civilian infrastructure, a possible war crime.

Hezbollah has rejected the agreement between Lebanon’s government, Israel and the US, saying the provisions linking Israel’s withdrawal to the group’s disarmament crossed “all red lines”. Israel has said it will not fully withdraw from the country until the group is fully disarmed.

According to Trump, the US has “concrete plans” to help Lebanon build the capacity to disarm Hezbollah, but he provided no details.

“They’re also becoming much more self-sufficient,” Trump said of the Lebanese army.

Additionally, Trump said he would speak directly to representatives of Hezbollah if requested by Aoun.

Lebanon was drawn into the war between Israel, the US and Iran on 2 March, when Hezbollah launched rockets into Israel in retaliation for a strike that killed Iran’s supreme leader.

Israel responded by launching a bombing campaign across Lebanon and invading a significant part of the country’s south.

More than 4,300 people have been killed in Lebanon, including almost 800 children, women and medics, according to the Lebanese health ministry.

Israeli authorities say 37 Israeli soldiers and four civilians have been killed on both sides of the border during the conflict.