Lebanese media report that the Lebanese Army has evacuated its positions in Tebnit and begun evacuating in Nabatieh itself, as IDF ground forces advance toward the city from the south and are now two kilometers from its outskirts. Footage circulating in Lebanon shows Lebanese Army armored vehicles leaving Nabatieh ahead of a possible Israeli entry. The reports are from Lebanese outlets; the IDF has not commented.
A new phase in the southern Lebanon ground operation is emerging this afternoon, with Lebanese media reporting that the Lebanese Army is vacating its forward positions within Nabatieh city itself as IDF ground forces close in. The IDF, which captured the village of Kfar Tebnit and the strategic Ali al-Taher ridge earlier in the week, is now reported to be two kilometers from Nabatieh's outskirts. Footage on Lebanese television shows Lebanese Army armored columns withdrawing from the city — a significant marker of the collapse of the Lebanese state's military presence in what was once a Hezbollah stronghold.
The Lebanese Army's withdrawal follows a pattern the desk has tracked over recent days: On June 11 at 10:52 Jerusalem, The Zioneer reported video showing IDF forces inside Kfar Tebnit at the foot of the ridge. Two days earlier, on June 8 at 18:34 Jerusalem, The Zioneer reported Israeli strikes on Tebnit. The initial capture of the ridge and Tabnit village was first reported at 09:49 Jerusalem on an earlier date, based initially on a single Israeli source. By 09:49 Jerusalem the following day, multiple Lebanese sources — including Hezbollah-affiliated channels — confirmed the IDF presence, though they differed on whether the positions were fully secured or still contested. What began as a single-source Israeli claim has evolved into a cross-sourced narrative: the IDF advance is now broadly acknowledged across Lebanese media, and the Lebanese Army's own movements confirm the territorial shift on the ground.
The Nabatieh area — a major Hezbollah bastion in southern Lebanon — has been under heavy Israeli artillery and air strikes for days. As The Zioneer reported on June 12 at 10:39 Jerusalem, strikes expanded to four towns around Nabatieh; an earlier report on June 12 at 08:53 Jerusalem detailed artillery pounding multiple neighborhoods in the city itself. The ground advance from Arnoun toward Kfar Tebnit and now Nabatieh itself appears to be the deepest Israeli penetration into Lebanon since the 2006 war.
The timing of a potential entry into Nabatieh's municipal limits — and whether the Lebanese Army evacuation applies to all positions within the city — remains unconfirmed. The IDF has not commented on the current positions or on the Lebanese Army's reported movements.
6 developments
- StrongIDF ground forces reported advancing in two Lebanese villages, including north of Beaufort
- DevelopingIDF strikes in Tebnit village, southern Lebanon
- DevelopingIDF conducts controlled demolitions and artillery fire in southern Lebanon
- DevelopingIDF advances on Nabatieh direction from Arnoun, clashes and heavy shelling reported
Source and signal
- Internal intake