A senior diplomatic official said Saturday evening that Israel will remain in the buffer zone in southern Lebanon and will respond to any attack on its forces, following the political directive for the IDF to halt active fire, according to a single Israeli source.
A senior diplomatic official said Saturday evening that Israel will remain in the security buffer zone in southern Lebanon and will respond to any attack on its forces, speaking after the political echelon issued a directive for the IDF to halt active fire. The official's statement is the first direct confirmation linking the stay-and-respond posture specifically to the new fire-halt directive, which was first reported Friday at 16:23 Jerusalem as a political directive to cease active fire while forces held ground and retained full operational freedom inside the Yellow Line marker.
As The Zioneer reported earlier Saturday at 18:46, Prime Minister Netanyahu reiterated that Israel will remain in the buffer zone as long as needed for northern defense. That followed a report at 18:33 noting the IDF halted fire on political directive but retains full operational freedom. The thread began Friday at 16:23 Jerusalem with Lebanese reports of Israeli strikes after a purported ceasefire — initially Nabatieh al-Fawqa, then 11 towns — followed by IDF confirmation of full freedom of action and reports of 300 targets struck and 100 Hezbollah operatives eliminated in two days. Over the week, corroboration evolved from single Israeli sources to multiple security officials and media reports.
Defense Minister Israel Katz stated on Monday and Tuesday that the IDF will maintain an open-ended presence in security zones across Lebanon, Syria, and Gaza, calling the buffer a key war achievement. As The Zioneer reported Friday at 16:09, an Israeli official confirmed Jerusalem agreed to a ceasefire on condition it stays in the security zone.
The senior official's statement is attributed to a single Israeli source and has not been independently corroborated.
7 developments
- StrongIDF warns it will return to 'intensive combat' in Lebanon if necessary
- StrongIDF ordered by political leadership to halt all military operations in Lebanon
- DevelopingIDF strikes Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon as US Embassy in Israel issues shelter directive
- StrongIDF says Hezbollah ceasefire violations require ongoing southern Lebanon operations
Source and signal
- Internal intake