Israel: South Lebanon pilot zone program has failed
Shafaq News- Beirut
Israel has told the United States that a pilot program in southern Lebanon has failed and expressed dissatisfaction with Lebanese Army action against Hezbollah infrastructure, Walla reported on Thursday, citing Israeli security sources, as Israeli attacks continued across the south.
According to the Israeli outlet, the assessment was conveyed through security channels along with information on Lebanese Army activities. The officials alleged that troops had not dismantled Hezbollah infrastructure at coordinates supplied by the Israeli military despite requesting additional locations.
They also assessed that Lebanese Army Commander Rodolphe Haykal continued to coordinate with Hezbollah and avoided confrontation with the group’s commanders in southern Lebanon, while questioning the army’s effectiveness in searching for infrastructure and weapons. A senior security official claimed there was “no real friction” between the two sides, adding that Israel was reluctant to agree to additional pilot areas.
The so-called pilot areas are parts of southern Lebanon where initial arrangements are being implemented under the June 26 framework agreement, which calls for a gradual Israeli withdrawal and the deployment of the Lebanese Army into vacated areas.
Read more: A weapons-free Srifa: Southern Lebanese return home without feeling safe
Despite the agreement, Israel has continued attacks across several parts of southern Lebanon, which Beirut says are hindering the army’s planned deployments, while Israeli forces remain present in several areas of the south, including positions they have occupied for decades.
Israeli warplanes on Thursday fired two missiles at al-Qantara in the Marjayoun district and struck a neighborhood in Nabatieh al-Fawqa. In Bint Jbeil, warplanes targeted Wadi al-Salouqi in two waves, while Israeli forces carried out a large explosion near the hills of Baraachit. Another airstrike hit al-Mansouri in the Tyre district, according to Lebanese media.
The attacks followed an Israeli strike on Arabsalim in the Nabatieh district that killed a woman and wounded six others, including a girl, another woman, and two elderly people, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry.
