Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir arrived in southern Lebanon on Sunday for a situational assessment with brigade commanders operating there. Regarding preparations for a return to combat, he said, "all of the IDF's resources are allocated for this."
Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir visited southern Lebanon at 15:54 Jerusalem on Sunday and told brigade commanders that “all of the IDF’s resources are allocated” for readiness to return to combat. The statement, issued alongside a photograph released by the military spokesperson, marks the latest in a series of situational tours by Zamir to the same sector. The visit followed an earlier assessment with the 401st Armored Brigade and a condolence call to the family of Lt. Col. Dor Ben Simhon, a battalion commander killed in action.
This is the seventh published account of Zamir’s tour, which The Zioneer first tracked at 17:00 Jerusalem when initial reports — then attributed to outgoing Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi — described Hezbollah’s underground fortress near Ali Taher and Beaufort. Over the next hour, subsequent versions corrected the commander to Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir and added that Hezbollah’s mid-level command tier in the Badr Units had been eliminated, with Zamir describing the ceasefire as “fragile.” By the fourth version, the desk reported that “all military resources are allocated for readiness to resume combat,” a formulation the chief repeated during this afternoon’s visit. The corroboration chain moved from a single IDF statement to multiple newsroom confirmations across four successive updates.
Attribution for the broader context rests on prior Zioneer reporting: on June 15 the desk reported that Prime Minister Netanyahu informed the Trump administration Israel would reject a Lebanon clause in an emerging U.S.-Iran framework, stating the IDF will not withdraw from southern Lebanon. On June 13, a report said the U.S. would allow the Lebanese army to gradually return south of the Litani River alongside an Israeli withdrawal. On June 11, Iran’s negotiating team declared it “will not accept or agree” to IDF forces remaining in southern Lebanon. The desk also reported on June 19 that the IDF is laying down heavy fire in southern Lebanon as Washington advances its agreement with Tehran, with relatives of wounded soldiers describing troops feeling “like ducks in a shooting gallery.”
What remains open: the precise timeline for any renewed offensive, and whether the Lebanese army’s deployment south of the Litani — a key but unimplemented element of the November 2024 ceasefire understandings — might advance alongside a coordinated IDF withdrawal. The linkage between the southern Lebanon front and the U.S.-Iran talks in Muscat, reported last week, has not been publicly confirmed by either the IDF or the negotiating teams.
7 developments
- DevelopingIDF Chief Zamir says Lebanon remains main center of gravity, as forces advance toward Nabatieh
- DevelopingChief of Staff to 401st Brigade in south Lebanon: Renewed combat may be necessary, ceasefire is fragile
- DevelopingIDF Chief of Staff visits Gaza, West Bank attack site, approves Dahieh strike in single day
- DevelopingIDF Chief: Army ready to immediately resume fighting Iran
Source and signal
- Internal intake