What Role Does the Lebanese Army Play on the Border with Israel?

Smoke rises on the Lebanese side of the border between Israel and Lebanon after an Israeli airstrike, as seen from northern Israel, November 18, 2023. (Reuters)
Smoke rises on the Lebanese side of the border between Israel and Lebanon after an Israeli airstrike, as seen from northern Israel, November 18, 2023. (Reuters)
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What Role Does the Lebanese Army Play on the Border with Israel?

Smoke rises on the Lebanese side of the border between Israel and Lebanon after an Israeli airstrike, as seen from northern Israel, November 18, 2023. (Reuters)
Smoke rises on the Lebanese side of the border between Israel and Lebanon after an Israeli airstrike, as seen from northern Israel, November 18, 2023. (Reuters)

The Lebanese army has been playing a limited role in the southern border regions ever since Hezbollah decided to support fighters in Gaza by opening Israel’s northern front with Lebanon.

Iran-backed Hezbollah has been clashing with Israeli forces on a daily basis since Hamas launched its Al-Aqsa Flood operation against Israel on October 7. At least 75 Hezbollah fighters have been killed so far.

Along with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), the army is committed to the implementation of UN Security Council resolution 1701. The resolution helped end a 33-day war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006.

The army has been active in preventing Palestinian groups from launching attacks against Israel from southern Lebanon. It has been dismantling rocket launchpads that have been discovered in the fields.

A security source told Asharq Al-Awsat that the army has been carrying out sweeps of border regions in search of rocket launchers.

The presence of the military and UNIFIL has been reassuring to the locals, it added, stressing that the army will remain in its positions and is prepared for “all possibilities”.

Moreover, the source explained that the army is operating with the cover of the government. Hezbollah’s operations are, meanwhile, being covered by the state and ministerial statements.

The actions of the Palestinian factions, however, are a cause for concern, amid fears that their operations could lead to the deterioration of the security situation in the South, it added.

Political and strategic affairs researcher Khalil al-Helou said: “Officially, Lebanon is committed to resolution 1701 and the army is part of this official stance. It is therefore committed to the resolution and will not violate the truce agreement.”

It was Hezbollah, not the army, that has fired missiles at Israel, so the military must not bear the brunt of Israel’s retaliation, he added. “Whoever fired the first shot must shoulder the consequences alone,” he told Asharq Al-Awsat.

The residents of the South are already suffering the consequences, he noted. The army must not be placed in danger from Israel, especially given that the balance of power is clearly not in its favor. The balance is not even in Hezbollah’s favor seeing as it has already lost dozens of fighters in the clashes.

Moreover, Helou refused to describe the army as a “spectator” in the current developments in the South.

It is implementing resolution 1701 by trying as much as possible to prevent non-Lebanese groups from firing rockets at Israel from Lebanese territories, he went on to say.

This sends a clear message to Israel that the Lebanese state does not want to become involved in the conflict and that it is committed to resolution 1701, Helou explained.

Other roles played by the military include rescuing the wounded and retrieving corpses, he revealed, explaining that Hezbollah cannot do so in the open as it would leave its members exposed to Israeli fire. So, the Red Cross members or army are doing so instead.

Resolution 1701 helped end the hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah during the 2006 war. Israeli troops withdrew from Lebanon and more UNIFIL forces were deployed to the South in coordination with the military to monitor the ceasefire.

It also stipulated that only UNIFIL and the Lebanese army are allowed to be deployed in regions south of the Blue Line and Litani River, which must be free of gunmen.

The resolution has been violated on numerous occasions by both Israel and Hezbollah over the past 17 years. Israel has breached it with its repeated violations of Lebanon’s sovereignty, and it is obvious that Hezbollah has not withdrawn its weapons and fighters from areas south of the Litani.

Hezbollah’s latest round of fighting with Israel has raised several questions about the effectiveness of the resolution and whether the Security Council will issue a new amended version once the fighting in Gaza, and consequently southern Lebanon, ends.



Little Hope in Gaza that Arrest Warrants will Cool Israeli Onslaught

Palestinians gather to buy bread from a bakery, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip November 22, 2024. REUTERS/Hussam Al-Masri Purchase Licensing Rights
Palestinians gather to buy bread from a bakery, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip November 22, 2024. REUTERS/Hussam Al-Masri Purchase Licensing Rights
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Little Hope in Gaza that Arrest Warrants will Cool Israeli Onslaught

Palestinians gather to buy bread from a bakery, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip November 22, 2024. REUTERS/Hussam Al-Masri Purchase Licensing Rights
Palestinians gather to buy bread from a bakery, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip November 22, 2024. REUTERS/Hussam Al-Masri Purchase Licensing Rights

Gazans saw little hope on Friday that International Criminal Court arrest warrants for Israeli leaders would slow down the onslaught on the Palestinian territory, where medics said at least 24 people were killed in fresh Israeli military strikes.

In Gaza City in the north, an Israeli strike on a house in Shejaia killed eight people, medics said. Three others were killed in a strike near a bakery and a fisherman was killed as he set out to sea. In the central and southern areas, 12 people were killed in three separate Israeli airstrikes.

Meanwhile, Israeli forces deepened their incursion and bombardment of the northern edge of the enclave, their main offensive since early last month. The military says it aims to prevent Hamas fighters from waging attacks and regrouping there; residents say they fear the aim is to permanently depopulate a strip of territory as a buffer zone, which Israel denies.

Residents in the three besieged towns on the northern edge - Jabalia, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun - said Israeli forces had blown up dozens of houses.

An Israeli strike hit the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya, one of three medical facilities barely operational in the area, injuring six medical staff, some critically, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement, Reuters reported.

"The strike also destroyed the hospital's main generator, and punctured the water tanks, leaving the hospital without oxygen or water, which threatens the lives of patients and staff inside the hospital," it added. It said 85 wounded people including children and women were inside, eight in the ICU.

Later on Friday, the Gaza health ministry said all hospital services across the enclave would stop within 48 hours unless fuel shipments are permitted, blaming restrictions which Israel says are designed to stop fuel being used by Hamas.

Gazans saw the ICC's decision to seek the arrest of Israeli leaders for suspected war crimes as international recognition of the enclave's plight. But those queuing for bread at a bakery in the southern city of Khan Younis were doubtful it would have any impact.

"The decision will not be implemented because America protects Israel, and it can veto anything. Israel will not be held accountable," said Saber Abu Ghali, as he waited for his turn in the crowd.

Saeed Abu Youssef, 75, said even if justice were to arrive, it would be decades late: "We have been hearing decisions for more than 76 years that have not been implemented and haven't done anything for us."

Since Hamas's October 7th attack on Israel, nearly 44,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, much of which has been laid to waste.

The court's prosecutors said there were reasonable grounds to believe Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant were criminally responsible for acts including murder, persecution, and starvation as a weapon of war, as part of a "widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population of Gaza".

The Hague-based court also ordered the arrest of the top Hamas commander Ibrahim Al-Masri, also known as Mohammed Deif. Israel says it has already killed him, which Hamas has not confirmed.

Israel says Hamas is to blame for all harm to Gaza's civilians, for operating among them, which Hamas denies.

Israeli politicians from across the political spectrum have denounced the ICC arrest warrants as biased and based on false evidence, and Israel says the court has no jurisdiction over the war. Hamas hailed the arrest warrants as a first step towards justice.

Efforts by Arab mediators Qatar and Egypt backed by the United States to conclude a ceasefire deal have stalled. Hamas wants a deal that ends the war, while Netanyahu has vowed the war can end only once Hamas is eradicated.