The United States announced Monday that the Israeli military has begun withdrawing from designated pilot zones in southern Lebanon, following the Rome talks. The statement marks the first official US confirmation of the start of the gradual pullout.
The United States officially confirmed Monday evening that the Israeli military has begun withdrawing from designated pilot zones in southern Lebanon, marking the first direct US acknowledgment that the gradual pullout is underway. The announcement comes roughly an hour after earlier reports at 16:19 Jerusalem, which described the Lebanese army deploying to the same zones and the IDF having already redeployed from one of the two pilot areas.
At 16:19 Jerusalem, The Zioneer reported that an Israeli source described two pilot zones for Lebanese army deployment in southern Lebanon, with the IDF having redeployed from one of them. Simultaneously, the US announced that the Lebanese Armed Forces were deploying to the pilot zones, including one from which the IDF would withdraw. The initial report at the same time, from Channel 14 journalist Noam Amir, stated that the Lebanese army would deploy in areas the IDF had cleared, without specifying a timeline. The corroboration has thus evolved from a single Israeli news report to official US confirmation.
As The Zioneer reported on Sunday, June 28, the IDF began pilot withdrawal from southern Lebanon zones in the first operational test of the Israel-Lebanon withdrawal agreement signed Friday. The US was expected to announce the pilot's official start on Sunday, July 17, according to a report Friday. The diplomatic process has been driven by US pressure, as described in an analysis on June 26, and the Rome talks earlier this month centered on Lebanon's demand for a binding timetable, reported on July 9.
No specific timeline or scope of the withdrawal from the pilot zones was provided by the US in Monday's announcement. The exact number of zones and the pace of the gradual pullout remain as previously reported in the earlier thread.
7 developments
- StrongLebanese army evacuates civilians from border villages, citing no Israeli withdrawal
- StrongLebanese army calls on residents to slow return to southern border towns, citing Israeli aerial surveillance
- DevelopingLebanese army begins patrols, checkpoints in five villages near Israeli-controlled border
- StrongLebanese PM says IDF will withdraw from Zoutar and additional villages within days
Source and signal
- Internal intake