The IDF published an updated map of its security zone in southern Lebanon on Thursday and said it would not be withdrawing from the territory for now, hours after President Trump signed a memorandum of understanding with Iran that calls for an end to fighting on all fronts, including Lebanon.
Running east to west, the deployment line reaches as far as 10 kilometers, or about 6 miles, into Lebanese territory from the border, with forces positioned roughly 6 kilometers deep in other areas. The map shows that Israeli troops have advanced deeper into Lebanon since the “forward defense line” was first announced in April, including reaching the outskirts of Nabatieh, a major Hezbollah center of gravity.
“IDF soldiers are stationed in the designated area of operation in southern Lebanon and will continue to remove threats and strengthen the defense of Israel’s northern residents,” the military said in a statement. It added that it would continue to hold the territory “in accordance with operational needs,” to remove any threat to troops and to Israel’s northern border communities.
A potential Israeli withdrawal from parts of southern Lebanon is still being discussed amid direct negotiations between Israel and Lebanon, with the teams expected to convene again next week. The military also called on the Lebanese army to coordinate its activity with the IDF and to stay away from the security zone while operations continue, and it urged residents to avoid the area because of the danger.
Israel began establishing the zone in April, describing it as a “forward defense area” rather than a “security zone,” an apparent effort to avoid associations with its 18-year occupation of southern Lebanon from 1982 to 2000, during which an estimated 675 Israeli troops were killed. Five IDF divisions, alongside naval forces, have operated in the area to dismantle Hezbollah infrastructure. Forces hold dominant positions including the Ali Taher ridge overlooking Nabatieh, and an earlier version of the line crossed the Litani River and took in the strategic Beaufort Ridge. At least 30 soldiers have been killed since the operation began in late February.
The map’s release reflects Israel’s determination to keep its footing in Lebanon even as the U.S.-Iran agreement takes effect. The full text of the memorandum refers to ending fighting on all fronts, including Lebanon, but Israeli leaders have said the deal does not bind them and that they do not consider the campaign against Hezbollah part of the U.S.-Iran framework. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said troops will remain in the buffer zone “for as long as necessary,” and Defense Minister Yisrael Katz has vowed Israel will not withdraw “despite all the existing pressures and those that will still come.” Israeli Channel 13, citing a source, reported an understanding between Israel and Washington that there would be no complete Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir has set out three conditions the military views as non-negotiable for the next phase: preserving freedom of military action throughout Lebanon, maintaining a buffer zone that includes territory beyond the border, and demilitarizing southern Lebanon. Commanders have argued in closed discussions that the lessons of Oct. 7 leave no alternative to a prolonged presence across the border.
Hezbollah, meanwhile, has continued to attack Israeli forces. In recent days the group has fired rockets, anti-tank missiles, mortars and explosive drones at troops, and the military has said it struck operatives who posed a threat. Fighting has eased but not stopped since the memorandum was signed, leaving southern Lebanon in a tense holding pattern while the diplomatic track plays out.
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The article tells that IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir has set out three “conditions the military views as non-negotiable.” According to a report on B’chadrei Chareidim US officials have said this subject is not up for negotiation and that the US will stop supplying Israel with weapons along with parts for their planes, without which they couldn’t fly for more than a few weeks, if they don’t comply with the US demands. This is a yad hashem showing the people of Israel and the IDF that it is not the great and mighty institution they hold themselves out to be, that the yeshivohs and those who learn torah in them are so inferior to them that they want to close the yeshiivohs and hunt and throw those who learn torah in them into jail. Instead the reality is the IDF doesn’t even have the power to fight a war on its own. That the IDF along with the state of Israel that has been treating those who learn torah in a humiliating and degrading way is itself now being subjected being treated in a humiliating and degrading manner.