The Chief of Staff of the Israeli Army, Eyal Zamir, stated last night that “there is no ceasefire” in southern Lebanon, where the Israeli military continues to be deployed and carrying out attacks – officially directed at the Lebanese Shiite militia party Hezbollah – and has assured that his troops, whom he has reminded of their “freedom of action”, will not leave Lebanese territory “until the long-term security of the communities in the north” is guaranteed. Israel.
“On the battle front, there is no ceasefire; you continue to fight to eliminate direct and indirect threats to northern communities, dismantle terrorist infrastructure and locate and kill terrorists,” Zamir declared during a visit to soldiers deployed in the Lebanese city of Taibé, according to the newspaper. The Times of Israel.
From there, the military leader has assured that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) will not withdraw “until the long-term security of the communities in the north” of Israel is guaranteed.
“The mission that the political high command has entrusted to us is to position ourselves along the line to prevent direct fire against the communities. We have achieved it; this is the line we are on. It is possible that we will have to remain on it,” he stated, referring to the so-called “yellow line” that, as in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli Army uses to delimit an area of operations for its troops in foreign territory.
Furthermore, the Chief of the General Staff has promised that “any threat, anywhere”, against these communities or against Israeli “forces”, “even beyond the yellow line and north of the Litani River, will be eliminated.” “Your mission and duty is to act with freedom of action and eliminate any threat,” he urged the deployed soldiers.
Zamil stressed in this regard that, “at this stage”, the IDF is not “advancing beyond the line”, but will continue to “act and eliminate threats without restrictions.” “The forces on the ground continue to operate, and there are no restrictions on destroying infrastructure and killing terrorists,” he insisted.
All a mystery
The leader of the Israeli Armed Forces has thus blurred the temporal and geographical limits of the military campaign undertaken on March 2, after Hezbollah launched projectiles against Israel in response to the death of the then supreme leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in the US and Israeli offensive against Tehran.
In these almost two months, 2,576 people have died and 7,962 have been injured in attacks by the Israeli Army, according to the latest figures released by the Lebanese Ministry of Health.
The truce had been reached without the Government of Benjamin Netanyahu wanting it, due to pressure from the White House, which has not commented on these statements by the head of the IDF. He did the same when, on the 25th, the prime minister himself ordered the Army to attack Hezbollah “vigorously” despite the ceasefire in force.
Trump wants to maintain calm in the Arab country because Iran demanded it as an essential condition to start peace talks in Pakistan, which have not borne fruit so far. For now, there are occasional but daily violations by both sides, but if open war returns, the diplomatic solution to the conflict with the ayatollahs may stall. The Islamic Republic has always been one of the main sponsors of Hezbollah.
