ZIBQIN VALLEY, Lebanon (AP) — The Lebanese army has intensified its efforts in areas along the border with Israel, in the volatile area that witnessed the 14-month war between Israel and the Hezbollah militant group. Parts of the zone south of the Litani River and north of the border with Israel were formerly a Hezbollah […]
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Lebanese army boosts its presence along border with Israel, dismantling Hezbollah posts
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ZIBQIN VALLEY, Lebanon (AP) — The Lebanese army has intensified its efforts in areas along the border with Israel, in the volatile area that witnessed the 14-month war between Israel and the Hezbollah militant group.
Parts of the zone south of the Litani River and north of the border with Israel were formerly a Hezbollah stronghold, off limits to the Lebanese national army and U.N. peacekeepers deployed in the area.
But since a ceasefire ended the Israel-Hezbollah war a year ago, Lebanon’s army has boosted its presence along the border to nearly 10,000 troops, closed 11 crossing points used for smuggling along the Litani River, and is dealing with huge amounts of unexploded ordnance, according to several senior army officers.
The army took dozens of journalists from local and and international media outlets Friday on a tour of the rugged area along the border. Its troops could be seen in places where Hezbollah once had a heavy military presence.
Israel has carried out almost daily airstrikes since the November 2024 ceasefire, mainly targeting Hezbollah members but 127 civilians have also been killed, according to the office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Hezbollah has only claimed responsibility for an attack on an Israeli military post since last November. The group maintains it no longer has an armed presence south of the Litani River, close to the border.
Hezbollah refuses to discuss full disarmament across Lebanon until Israel stops its attacks and withdraws from five hilltop points that it captured during the war and still holds.
The latest Israel-Hezbollah war began Oct. 8, 2023, a day after Hamas attacked southern Israel, after Hezbollah fired rockets into Israel in solidarity with Hamas. Israel launched a widespread bombardment of Lebanon for two months last year that severely weakened Hezbollah, followed by a ground invasion.
In August, the Lebanese government voted in favor of a U.S.-backed plan to disarm Hezbollah. Hezbollah rejected the plan.
In recent weeks, Israel has said that Hezbollah is working on rebuilding its capabilities in south Lebanon.
“The Lebanese army is making tremendous efforts during this critical period in the history of the region,” said Brig. Gen. Nicolas Thabet, Lebanese army commander in the sector south of the Litani River.
The journalists were taken Friday to Zibqin Valley, where Hezbollah once had rocket launchers, tunnels and posts hidden in the bushy region. There was no presence of the militant group and its former posts were either struck or now controlled by Lebanese troops.
A nearly 100-meter (328 feet) tunnel inside a mountain, used by Hezbollah in the past, contained what appeared to be a small medical clinic, a ventilation system, power cables, water tankers and large amounts of canned food.
Zibqin Valley is where munitions in an arms depot exploded in August, killing six army experts who were dismantling them.
“We will not abandon our goals no matter what the difficulties are,” said Thabet, adding that “the army is making major sacrifices” in one of “the most dangerous parts of the Middle East.”
Army officers told journalists that there have been 5,198 violations by Israel since the ceasefire, including 657 airstrikes. They added that 13,981 housing units were destroyed by the war, in addition to the damage done to infrastructure in border villages.
They said that some of the weapons and ordnance they found were dismantled or ,detonated while others have been put in storage. Weapons that can be used are taken by the army, they said.
The officers added that the army now has 200 posts south of Litani River, in addition to 29 fixed checkpoints, and it operates patrols around the clock.
On Sept. 5, the army strengthened its efforts in the region after the government’s decision to disarm Hezbollah. Since then, troops have discovered 74 tunnels, 175 rocket launchers and 58 missiles.
Thabet said the army does not enter homes to search them without a judicial order and only do so if they witness illegal activities as they’re taking place.