Israel's military says its troops have unrestricted authority to act against any threat in southern Lebanon, amid the conditional ceasefire with Hezbollah. Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said forces are actively demolishing major Hezbollah tunnel systems at the Beaufort Castle area and Ali Taher ridge, calling them the terror group's central command centers.
Friday 16:27 Jerusalem — The IDF on Friday reiterated that its troops in southern Lebanon have full freedom of action to remove any threat, as the ceasefire with Hezbollah continues on paper but under strain. Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said the military is actively demolishing major Hezbollah tunnel systems near the Beaufort Castle and Ali Taher ridge, calling them the terror group's 'central command centers.' He accused Hezbollah of violating the truce and fighting a defensive battle to prevent the destruction. 'Hezbollah is fighting a defensive battle to prevent our forces from completing the destruction of these infrastructures,' Defrin said, adding there is no limit on removing threats.
This statement deepens the thread The Zioneer has tracked since Friday 15:51 Jerusalem, when a senior US official first told Reuters of a ceasefire agreement. By 15:51, a single desk channel reported the deal had entered effect; Israeli officials had not confirmed. At the same time, a senior Israeli official stated the conditional ceasefire remains in place from Israel's side, with freedom of action against emerging threats. Defense Minister Israel Katz said at 13:20 the IDF would stay up to the Beaufort heights and respond forcefully to any violation. The official IDF spokesperson statement at 15:51 — version 6 of the thread — formalized the 'freedom of action' language. The current statement, attributed directly to Brig. Gen. Defrin, adds granular detail about the Beaufort and Ali Taher tunnel demolition, a development that was reported earlier Friday by Israeli military correspondents and attributed to a senior official.
As The Zioneer reported on Tuesday June 16, Israel's security establishment stressed that the US-Iran agreement does not limit IDF operations in southern Lebanon, and the IDF was deepening its maneuver focusing on tunnel destruction near Beaufort. The military's current operations focus on destroying underground infrastructure — not on reoccupying territory.
What remains open: The scope of Hezbollah's ceasefire violations — Defrin's accusation has not been independently verified, and no separate IDF report of specific Hezbollah attacks near the tunnel sites has been published. The conditional nature of the ceasefire — whether Israel's 'freedom of action' across Lebanon extends beyond the southern zone — has not been formally codified in any public document.
7 developments
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- DevelopingIsrael’s security establishment stresses commitment to northern defense as US-Iran deal takes effect
- DevelopingMilitary analyst: IDF retains freedom of action in southern Lebanon, no withdrawal from occupied areas
- DevelopingIDF maintains operations in southern Lebanon, military says
Source and signal
- Internal intake