Channel 12 journalist Amit Segal reported on Monday that the IDF has halted offensive operational activities against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.

Two IDF soldiers from two separate units operating along Israel’s northern border told Segal: “All activity has ceased, including searching homes suspected of being used to store weapons. Such sites are now being targeted only with fire from a distance rather than through direct raids.”

The soldiers added: “Shiite residents have returned to the villages they had previously avoided returning to, and IDF forces have been instructed not to take action against them.”

Defense Minister Yisrael Katz said on Monday morning that “Prime Minister Netanyahu and I are leading a clear policy under which the IDF will remain in the security zones in Lebanon, Syria, and Gaza for an unlimited period of time in order to protect Israel’s border and communities from jihadist elements. The area will be free of local residents. This is the main lesson of the October 7 massacre. We oppose an IDF withdrawal from Lebanon, despite all the existing pressures and those that will come in the future.”

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)