BEIRUT: Lebanese army units entered the border town of Aitaroun in southern Lebanon on Saturday for the first time since the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the area.
It remains unclear whether the withdrawal included all of Aitaroun and its surrounding areas.
Israeli forces had advanced into the town during the ground war they launched against Hezbollah on Oct. 1, 2024. Israel refused to adhere to the withdrawal deadline set by the ceasefire agreement, requesting an extension, with US approval, until Feb. 18.
Residents of the town did not accompany the army as they entered, following instances a week ago in other towns when dozens of returnees accompanying Lebanese soldiers were killed or injured by Israeli forces who had hidden behind dirt barriers in the hills and deployed drones that targeted those attempting to reach their homes.
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Lebanese residents returning to their towns were limited to assessing their destroyed properties, burying their dead, and recovering the bodies of others still under the rubble, all of which the Israeli army had previously prevented.
Instead, Aitaroun’s residents followed the instructions of the municipality, which had told them “not to head toward the town before the Lebanese army enters and establishes its presence there.”
A military source said the Lebanese army’s role in the initial phase was limited to carrying out land surveying operations for war ordnance and establishing a presence in the town.
In response to “unofficial calls to gather and head toward the towns,” the municipality said that entering Aitaroun, “where Israelis are still present, poses a grave threat to your lives from a treacherous and criminal enemy. Staying away is for your safety.”
Aitaroun, in the Bint Jbeil district of the Nabatieh Governorate, sits on the border with Israel facing the Israeli settlement of Malikiya and was the scene of fierce confrontations during the war that Hezbollah waged for a year and two months against the Israeli army in support of Gaza.
Elsewhere on Saturday, residents continued to return to towns from which the Israeli army has withdrawn, including Khiam.
Many of them were devastated by the extent of the destruction, much of which is the result of deliberate Israeli demolitions of homes and facilities, with the aim of making border towns uninhabitable for the foreseeable future.
The Lebanese army continued to redeploy in the border area of Yaroun while infiltrating Israeli forces continued to demolish and set houses on fire in Taybeh, Odaisseh, and Rab Al-Thalathine.
Israeli forces also dropped bombs from a combat drone on a bulldozer that was working to recover the bodies of Hezbollah fighters in the center of Taybeh.
Residents returning to their towns were limited to assessing their destroyed properties, burying their dead, and recovering the bodies of others still under the rubble, all of which the Israeli army had previously prevented.
Retired Maj. Gen. Hisham Jaber, head of the Middle East Center for Studies and Research, fears that Israel might not withdraw from Lebanon after Feb. 18, the new deadline following the extension of the original 60-day ceasefire agreement by an additional 22 days, as requested by the Israeli government.
Jaber told Arab News he expects that Israel “will either extend the duration of its presence in certain areas in the central and eastern sectors or remain there by force.”
He added: “The bet on US assistance to pressure Israel into withdrawing according to the agreement is entirely unreliable, as the new administration does not care at all about what is happening in the Middle East as a whole. Its only condition is to avoid war, and it has no problem with hotspots remaining in the region.”
He expressed his concern that if Israel does not completely withdraw from the south by March, “resistance groups might emerge and target its forces on Lebanese territory, which will re-legitimize resistance operations.”
On Saturday, residents of the border town of Kfar Kila were told to gather on Sunday morning to return to their homes, but only if the Lebanese flag is flown. The Israeli army has reportedly not yet evacuated the town.
Lebanese forces intensified their measures in the southern suburbs of Beirut on Saturday in response to calls from Hezbollah supporters to ride motorcycles to the city’s American University Hospital to protest its denial of treatment for one of those injured when thousands of pagers exploded simultaneously in Lebanon in September.
Activists claim that the patient was informed that the hospital’s refusal to admit him was due to “concerns over potential US sanctions.”
The hospital’s administration department denies this, stating that the refusal was due to the Ministry of Health’s “failure to cover the treatment costs of the required treatment to the hospital so far, especially since the war wounded are treated at the expense of the Ministry of Health and the American University Hospital is a private entity, not a government one.”
