Lebanese army pushing Hezbollah out of Israeli frontier area, Beirut claims

Lebanon’s president says his country’s army is working to implement the November ceasefire with Israel, with Beirut now controlling 85% of southern Lebanon, amid claims the army has dismantled 90% of Hezbollah’s infrastructure on the Israeli frontier.

By World Israel News Staff

Lebanon’s president claimed Wednesday that his country has taken control of the vast majority of southern Lebanon, reasserting Beirut’s control over an area that for decades has been under the de facto rule of the pro-Iranian Hezbollah terror organization.

Speaking with Sky News Arabia, President Joseph Aoun said that the Lebanese army now controls more than 85% of the territory south of the Litani River.

Southern Lebanon, which includes the area adjacent to the Israeli border, had been effectively under the authority of Hezbollah since Israel withdrew its army from the area in May 2000.

While the United Nations attempted to bolster Beirut’s position in southern Lebanon after the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, the Shi’ite group remained the dominant power until Israel’s 2024 invasion.

Israel withdrew from most of southern Lebanon following the implementation of the November 2024 ceasefire, brokered by the U.S. and France, but has retained control over five security posts near the border, insisting the IDF retain some form of buffer between remaining Hezbollah forces and northern Israeli towns, while noting that Lebanon had failed to sterilize the area of Hezbollah forces.

On Wednesday, a Lebanese security official told AFP that Lebanon’s military has now destroyed over nine-tenths of Hezbollah’s terrorist infrastructure south of the Litani.

“We have dismantled over 90 percent of the infrastructure in the area south of the Litani,” the official said.

In addition, the Lebanese security official said that Hezbollah’s underground infrastructure in the area has mostly been “filled and closed.”

Lebanon’s army has deployed soldiers to crossing points in southern Lebanon to “prevent the transfer of weapons from the north of the river to the south.”

Jerusalem, however, has hinted Israeli forces will remain in the five enclaves in southern Lebanon for the foreseeable future in order to prevent Hezbollah attacks on border towns.

Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz said last month that IDF forces would stay in the area “indefinitely.”