The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) will hold five strategic posts inside southern Lebanon to maintain security and surveillance even after withdrawing from the region on Tuesday in accordance with the ceasefire with Hezbollah.
The Times of Israel reported Monday:
The Israel Defense Forces on Monday confirmed troops will remain deployed in five strategic positions in southern Lebanon after Tuesday’s deadline for their withdrawal.
Under a ceasefire deal brokered by the United States in November, Israeli troops were granted 60 days to withdraw from southern Lebanon, where they had waged a ground offensive against fighters from Lebanon’s Hezbollah terror group since early October.
Hezbollah operatives were to leave the zone and Lebanese troops were to deploy in the area within the same period. The original deadline had already been extended from January 26 until February 18.
The IDF’s decision to hold onto the five posts was apparently approved by the Trump administration. According to the Times of Israel, the posts are spaced roughly evenly along the length of Lebanon’s southern border with Israel.
As Breitbart News has reported, Lebanon enjoys the high ground relative to northern Israel (the Galilee), which has allowed Hezbollah to fire low-flying anti-tank missiles at Israeli communities.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
