US envoy Amos Hochstein reportedly said during the latest meeting of the committee overseeing the ceasefire in the north between Israel and Hezbollah that the IDF would be carrying out an orderly withdrawal from southern Lebanon over the next 15 days - with some key exceptions, according to Naharnet.
According to the report, the IDF will first withdraw from the western sector of southern Lebanon between Ras al-Naqoura and Rmeish over five days, then the central sector between Rmeish and Mays al-Jabal over the next five, and then the eastern sector between Mays al-Jabal and Shebaa, or Mount Dov as Israel calls it, over the next five.
The Lebanese Army is expected to then take over control of the areas evacuated by the IDF and ensure that no other force - including Hezbollah - operates in southern Lebanon in any military capacity.
One report by Kann suggests the Lebanese Army will struggle to carry out its mission in southern Lebanon, as the army is split between keeping the peace in the south and protecting the border in the north with Syria against refugee waves and terrorists.
Furthermore, while senior Lebanese Army officers reportedly support the idea of enforcing the demilitarization of southern Lebanon, many junior officers and soldiers are less enthusiastic and some may even be sympathetic to Hezbollah. The force being used to demilitarize southern Lebanon is also substantially weaker than planned.
The one key exception to Israel's general withdrawal is three "strategic hills" where the IDF intends to maintain a presence and build and maintain military bases even after the end of the ceasefire's 60-day deadline.
According to sources speaking to Lebanese media, these hills are uninhabited and look out over vast areas of southern Lebanon, providing the IDF with key vantage points with which to observe Hezbollah activity and protect key Israeli towns across the border.
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