Channel 14 military correspondent Noam Amir reported Thursday evening that the IDF will remain stationed in the Beaufort Castle area and the Hermon Ridge security zone in Lebanon, but will withdraw from Nabatieh and the Litani River line. The assessment, which Amir frames as the emerging military posture, suggests a narrowed Israeli security belt anchored on the eastern sector, according to the report.
Channel 14 military correspondent Noam Amir reported Thursday evening, 22:37 Jerusalem, that the IDF will withdraw from Nabatieh and the Litani River line while retaining positions at Beaufort Castle and the Hermon Ridge. This refines an earlier report from the same correspondent at 20:51 Thursday, which stated only that the IDF would hold the buffer and Hermon Ridge without specifying the scope of withdrawal — leaving open whether forces would remain in the western sector as well. Amir now identifies Nabatieh and the Litani line as the areas Israel will vacate, narrowing the envisioned security belt to the eastern sector.
The new detail arrives in a thread that has tracked the debate over Israel's future military posture in southern Lebanon for the past several days. The first reports, at 10:52 Thursday (all times Jerusalem), quoted a senior Israeli official telling N12 that the IDF would not withdraw despite an emerging US-Israel memorandum of understanding, with 'difficult negotiations' ongoing. By 10:52, multiple versions had appeared: Reuters cited a senior official saying Israel is in 'tough negotiations' with Washington; another Channel 14 report — from Amir himself — described the IDF holding the buffer and Hermon Ridge. The thread shows source progression from anonymous officials to a named military correspondent, but Amir's Thursday-night report remains a journalist's assessment, not an on-record government announcement.
As The Zioneer reported on Saturday (Jun 13, 03:29), a gradual withdrawal framework — with Nabatieh as a pilot area — had been floated by a Lebanese source. Defense Minister Katz stated Monday (Jun 15, 12:50) that the IDF would maintain open-ended security zones in Lebanon, Syria, and Gaza. The difference between Katz's maximalist position and Amir's narrower assessment remains unclosed.
What remains open: whether this posture reflects a finalized cabinet-level decision or a military recommendation; whether the withdrawal timeline extends to other areas of southern Lebanon beyond Nabatieh and the Litani; and whether the US-Israel negotiations described throughout the thread have produced terms that align with Amir's assessment.
8 developments
- DevelopingIsrael’s security establishment stresses commitment to northern defense as US-Iran deal takes effect
- StrongKatz: IDF will stay in Lebanon, Syria, Gaza security zones indefinitely, rejects withdrawal pressure
- StrongIDF clears Hezbollah tunnel network beneath Beaufort Ridge, advances near Nabatieh
- DevelopingIDF pushes into three new axes in southern Lebanon, sources report
Source and signal
- Internal intake