An American official told Reuters on Thursday that Israel had partially pulled back from southern Lebanon as a goodwill gesture, as the third and final day of U.S.-hosted talks between Israel and Lebanon opened in Washington. Israel denied the report, saying the pilot plan has not yet begun. A Lebanese senior source also said Beirut was unaware of any Israeli withdrawal from the buffer zone in southern Lebanon.
The U.S. official said the Lebanese army must now enter the vacated area and remove weapons and terrorist infrastructure. He added, "Israel has already taken a concrete step by withdrawing from part of its buffer zone. This is a significant demonstration of goodwill toward the legitimate government of Lebanon." He did not specify how much territory, or exactly where, the alleged withdrawal took place.
The same official said Washington expects the Lebanese army to clear the area and that the model could be repeated across southern Lebanon. That, he said, would allow the safe return of displaced families, the rehabilitation of the south and the restoration of full Lebanese sovereignty.
The report comes after N12 said earlier this week that Israel was preparing at the Washington negotiations to propose a pilot plan for a limited partial withdrawal in a small area of southern Lebanon. According to that earlier report, the IDF would withdraw from a specific area, likely one that has been relatively cleared, and the Lebanese army would enter it under American supervision. An Israeli source told Channel 12, "We are coming with maps to decide what the pilot area in Lebanon will be," adding that it would be south of the Litani River, meaning south of the Yellow Line. The negotiations are expected to end Thursday afternoon and are being conducted by a political team and a military team.
