A sharp contradiction emerged Thursday between an American official's account of Israeli military movements in southern Lebanon and a flat denial from senior Israeli security sources, raising questions about whether the conflicting narratives are part of a deliberate pressure campaign ahead of Washington-mediated talks.
Reuters reported Thursday that a senior American official said Israel had withdrawn from parts of southern Lebanon and was allowing the Lebanese army to deploy in its place, describing the move as a goodwill gesture toward the Lebanese government, with further withdrawals expected.
Israeli security officials pushed back immediately and forcefully. A senior Israeli security source said explicitly that "the IDF has not withdrawn from anywhere" and that the military had received no instructions from the political echelon on the matter. The Lebanese army also denied that its forces had deployed in place of Israeli troops.
According to a report by Moriya Asraf, the withdrawal has not yet begun in practice. What does exist are understandings taking shape between Israel and Lebanon in the framework of Washington talks. Under those emerging understandings, Israel would withdraw in the near future from small areas in southern Lebanon to allow Lebanese army forces to enter, as part of a pilot arrangement being formulated in the current negotiations.
Washington Talks and the Hezbollah Disarmament Plan
The conflicting reports emerged on the same day negotiations between Israeli and Lebanese delegations were set to resume in Washington. According to reports, the discussions center on ways to bring about Hezbollah's disarmament, with a plan taking shape under which the Lebanese army would be trained to confront Hezbollah, with U.S. forces providing that training, an arrangement that has received Israeli support.
Israeli sources say that under American pressure, Israel will not strike the Dahiyeh neighborhood of Beirut as part of the understandings. However, there is reported American approval for a continued IDF ground presence in southern Lebanon within the expanded security zone Israel currently holds. A U.S. administration official was quoted as saying there is "not necessarily a restriction on military operations in southern Lebanon."
According to the emerging understandings, Israel will continue to control the vast majority of the territory it currently holds in southern Lebanon. Any planned withdrawal would involve only small areas and would be carried out gradually as part of a pilot designed to test the Lebanese army's ability to replace IDF forces.
The contradiction between the American report and the Israeli and Lebanese denials leaves open the central question of whether the Reuters account reflects what is actually being negotiated behind closed doors, or whether it represents an attempt to generate public pressure on Israel as the Washington talks advance.
