Illustration of a Lebanon Israel pilot zone village on a southern hillside with olive groves, damaged houses and a lone drone in the sky at dusk

Lebanon Pilot Zone Stalls as Israel and Hezbollah Trade Conditions

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Key takeaways

  • Israeli troops withdrew from West Zawtar in southern Lebanon in July as the first test of a U.S.-backed “pilot zone” plan; two months on, Reuters reports that no further pilot zones have been agreed.
  • Israel says work to remove Hezbollah weapons is not complete; the U.S. State Department says Hezbollah disarmament is “an integral part” of the process; Hezbollah has not agreed to disarm, according to Beirut Wire.
  • The Lebanese army says it seized about 1,818 weapons and munitions in the zone; the village mayor told Reuters the pilot has not worked because services such as water and electricity remain largely unavailable.
  • Military talks are expected in Tampa, Florida, around Oct. 20, before Israel’s Oct. 27 election, according to The New Arab, which says the date is not officially confirmed.

A U.S.-sponsored framework signed by Lebanon and Israel on June 26 was meant to turn a fragile ceasefire into a step-by-step Israeli pullback from southern Lebanon in exchange for the Lebanese army taking control of Hezbollah weapons. The first village handed over, West Zawtar, was supposed to show it could work. Reporting this month suggests the process has stalled. This report sets out what each party says, what residents and journalists describe, and what is next. Several details come from a single outlet and are attributed accordingly.

What the June framework says

According to The New Arab, the framework calls for a gradual Israeli withdrawal from designated pilot zones, followed by the redeployment of the Lebanese army, which is responsible for clearing those zones of Hezbollah weapons and infrastructure. Beirut Wire said that, under the arrangement, Israeli withdrawal was explicitly linked to verified Hezbollah disarmament in the areas transferred, with coordination through a U.S.-facilitated Military Coordination Group. The framework sits against a wider war: Reuters reported that Hezbollah fired at Israel on March 2, after the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran that began on February 28, prompting an Israeli offensive and ground invasion in the south, and that more than a million Lebanese fled their homes. A ceasefire was agreed in June, Reuters said, but Israel’s military has continued deadly strikes and its troops still hold a self-declared security zone covering dozens of villages.

West Zawtar: what has and has not happened

Beirut Wire reported that the Lebanese army deployed into West Zawtar on July 21 after Israeli troops pulled back, and that each side described the handover differently: the army said Israeli forces fired nearby as it deployed, while Israel said Lebanese forces had entered a restricted area. The army says it has set up checkpoints and patrols and confiscated roughly 1,818 weapons and munitions, including rocket launchers, rockets and drones, and that it has fulfilled its obligations inside the zone while accusing Israel of thousands of violations of the June agreement. Israel’s military told Reuters that work to remove the threat of Hezbollah’s weapons had not been completed, that drones were used to identify threats, and that limits on villagers’ movement were meant to protect its troops.

Residents describe a different picture. Reuters reporters who visited on October 8 described Israeli troops operating in the adjacent village of East Zawtar, a few hundred meters away, small surveillance drones trailing villagers and controlled detonations of homes nearby. Beirut Wire, citing the Lebanese army, said about 70 percent of residents have been able to return to inspect their properties but only about 16 percent have resettled, and that the army estimates 85 percent of homes were completely destroyed. Reuters said about 70 families had returned, mostly living in undamaged corners of their homes, and that 16 prefabricated houses delivered by the state Council for the South mostly remain empty without water or electricity. West Zawtar’s mayor, Abed Ezzedine, told Reuters: “In principle, I can tell you that no, it’s not successful.” Villagers whose olive groves are near Israeli positions must request access through the U.S.-led coordination mechanism, Reuters reported.

The sequencing dispute

A U.S. State Department spokesperson told Reuters that the pilot-zone process is “the only viable path” to security for Lebanon and Israel, that a zone would expand after the Lebanese army completes clearance operations in the first zone, and that Hezbollah’s disarmament “is an integral part of this process.” Beirut Wire summarized the impasse this way: Lebanon wants Israeli withdrawal first, Israel wants verified disarmament first, and Hezbollah refuses to disarm nationally. Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, according to Lebanese government sources quoted by The New Arab, urged Washington during a recent visit to press Israel to comply and called for a timetable linking withdrawals and weapons handover in parallel. The same outlet reported, citing sources, that U.S. officials told Salam that Israel would continue to occupy parts of southern Lebanon and expand operations if the Lebanese government did not bring Hezbollah’s weapons under state control.

Accounts also differ on how many zones exist. The New Arab said three pilot zones were announced in July, covering the towns of Froun, Srifa and Zawtar al-Sharqiya, with no further areas designated, while Reuters and Beirut Wire describe West Zawtar as the first and only test. We cannot reconcile those descriptions from the reporting we reviewed.

Why it matters beyond Lebanon

The Lebanon front is tied to the U.S.-Iran track. Reuters reported in July that Iran’s chief negotiator cited Israeli attacks in Lebanon as a violation of the 14-point Islamabad memorandum and that Iran had said Israel must cease fire in Lebanon as part of the deal. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on September 15 that the memorandum’s promise of reopening the Strait of Hormuz was undone because hostilities against Lebanon continued; that is Moscow’s characterization, not a finding. For background, see our reports on the Strait of Hormuz talks and an earlier Israeli strike in south Lebanon, and our look at the Gaza ceasefire one year on.

What to watch

The New Arab reported that military-only talks are expected in Tampa, Florida, possibly on October 20, ahead of Israel’s general election on October 27, with Lebanon planning to demand a halt to Israeli operations and withdrawal from a second pilot zone. The last round was in Rome on August 6. The final date has not been officially confirmed. Other markers are whether a second zone is named, whether Israeli withdrawals continue after the election, and whether the Lebanese cabinet and army can show verifiable progress on weapons. The New Arab also said Israeli attacks have killed close to 9,000 people in Lebanon since October 2023; that figure is the outlet’s, and we have not verified it.

Sources

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