After a political-military review, the IDF has approved new rules of engagement for southern Lebanon. Troops are now authorized to open fire from the ground at suspicious areas to secure moving forces, and to shoot to kill any militant identified within the 'Yellow Line' — even without an immediate threat. Authority to approve airstrikes was lowered from the regional commander to the division commander.
The political and military echelons have finalized a new set of rules of engagement (ROE) for Israeli troops operating in southern Lebanon, resolving a period of tension over restrictions that commanders and soldiers said tied their hands. The updated directives, reported Tuesday evening by Hillel Biton Rosen, establish three tiers of fire authorization:
- Securing forces in movement: soldiers may fire from the ground at suspicious areas. - The 'Yellow Line' zone: any militant identified within this strip is to be shot dead, even if no immediate threat is present. - Beyond the Yellow Line: immediate fire is permitted only against a clear and present danger (e.g. a rocket cell or a drone team); other threats that are not immediate may not be engaged.
Additionally, the authority to approve an airstrike was lowered from the theater commander (OC Northern Command) to the division commander, streamlining the chain of command for aerial support.
On the matter of destroying underground Hezbollah infrastructure, the report said this will be carried out later, pending the removal of several operational and political constraints.
The Zioneer previously reported that earlier directives sharply limited commanders' ability to open fire, requiring chief-of-staff approval for any strike — a policy troops described as enabling militants to operate with impunity near the Yellow Line. The new ROE appear to reverse key elements of that approach, restoring lower-level autonomy to engage against identified threats.
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