IDF targets suspects in south Lebanon with drone strike
US envoy Hochstein said to assure officials in Beirut that Israel will complete withdrawal by January 26, as Lebanese military says it finished deploying in area IDF has left
The military said late Saturday that it carried out a drone strike against three suspects on the Lebanese side of Mount Dov, close to the border, two weeks before Israeli forces are set to withdraw from Lebanon under the ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah.
The three suspects were apparently killed in the strike. It was unclear if they were armed or what their intentions were.
Hours earlier, another drone struck in south Lebanon “to remove a threat” after several Hezbollah operatives were spotted leaving a building known to be used by the terror group, the IDF said. According to Lebanese media, the strike occurred in the southern village of Kounine. Lebanon’s health ministry reported two people wounded.
Under the terms of the November 27 ceasefire agreement, which ended 14 months of war with Hezbollah, the Iran-backed terror group is to withdraw north of the Litani River — some 30 kilometers (18 miles) from the border with Israel — while Israel must withdraw from southern Lebanon by January 26, to be replaced by the Lebanese Armed Forces and international peacekeeping force UNIFIL.
Washington has reportedly assured Beirut that Israel would complete the withdrawal in time, and the LAF said Saturday that it had finished deploying in south Lebanon’s western sector following Israel’s withdrawal from there.
Israeli officials have reportedly indicated that the IDF could stay in south Lebanon past the deadline for withdrawal if the Lebanese army does not replace the Israeli presence there quickly enough. The IDF has also accused the Lebanese Armed Forces of failing to accede to a request to act against Hezbollah missile launchers situated in south Lebanon in violation of the agreement.
However, Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said Friday that the state would start disarming Lebanon’s south, and on Thursday, new Lebanese President Joseph Aoun pledged in his inauguration speech that the state would hold a monopoly on power — a thinly veiled threat against Hezbollah’s extensive arsenal.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah-aligned newspaper Al-Akhbar reported Saturday that US envoy Amos Hochstein, who visited Lebanon last week, told his interlocutors that he had obtained from Israel a detailed timeline for the IDF withdrawal from Lebanon’s south.
According to the report, the last day of the IDF presence will be January 26 — the end date for the initial, 60-day period of the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire deal.
Hochstein, who brokered the deal, was said to have requested that, as Beirut gears up to replace the IDF presence, the Lebanese military strengthen its units and ensure that Hezbollah hands over all its arms south of the Litani.
Al-Akhbar said Hochstein was updated by his Lebanese counterparts that there is an existing agreement to that effect between the Lebanese Armed Forces and the terror group.
The LAF said on X Saturday that, following an Israeli withdrawal, it is deploying to the southwestern border towns and villages of Naqoura, Aalma ash-Shaab, Dhayra, Aitaroun, Bint Jbeil, Tayr Harfa, Majdal Zoun, Salhani, and Qouzah.
The LAF warned locals to stay away from the area until engineering units have scanned the towns and villages, and cleared them of unexploded ordnance and other debris.
The Lebanese military said it was working to strengthen its positions in the area, in coordination with UNIFIL and the five-member committee supervising the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon. The committee comprises representatives of Israel, Lebanon, France, the US and UNIFIL.
تستكمل وحدات الجيش الانتشار في رأس الناقورة – صور وبلدات في القطاع الغربي علما الشعب، الضهيرة، عيترون، بنت جبيل، طيرحرفا، مجدل زون، الصالحني والقوزح بعد انسحاب العدو الإسرائيلي، وتعمل على تعزيز التمركز وتأمين النقاط المهمة، بالتنسيق مع قوة الأمم المتحدة المؤقتة في لبنان –… pic.twitter.com/61q04Sw5zS
— الجيش اللبناني (@LebarmyOfficial) January 11, 2025
Israel signed the ceasefire with Hezbollah two months after it escalated operations against the terror group, all but decimating its leadership, in a bid to stem its persistent rocket fire, which had forced the displacement of some 60,000 northerners.
Unprovoked, Hezbollah began attacking Israel on a near-daily basis on October 8, 2023, a day after fellow Iran-backed terror group stormed southern Israel to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages, sparking the war in Gaza.
Agencies contributed to this report.
