The Two-Week Mission in Lebanon... And Troops from These Countries Heading South?

Ali al-Taher’s demolition is inevitable, and the operation has already begun and is escalating gradually. Hezbollah is aware of this, and sources within the group report preparations underway to avoid losing the facility for free—aiming to inflict maximum possible casualties on Israel, including possible personnel changes, as rumored behind the scenes.

This occurs at a time when the party refuses to hand over the facility to the Lebanese Army for multiple reasons, including lack of guarantees and fear that Israel will again pressure the Lebanese Army to reposition and eventually withdraw, as previously happened in several areas.

Conversely, Israel is determined to carry out the mission, and the Israeli military has informed political leadership of its capability to enter the facility, which may take up to two weeks—delivering a significant achievement Netanyahu cannot afford to ignore, especially if Iran chooses to respond in a way that could undermine him politically. General Joseph Klainfeld had previously informed Lebanon that substantial progress was unlikely before the Israeli elections, and he heard a request from Berri for access to certain documents located in Bint Jbeil. However, work continues on attempting to resolve minor details that fall short of full solutions, particularly regarding the identity of the third-party monitoring force for the army’s operations.

According to MTV information, General Klainfeld visited Jordan to assess its readiness to participate in the verification operation in southern Lebanon, following a message to Lebanon indicating Israel does not entirely reject Italy’s role, though Rome has many questions about the risks to its forces and the nature of required duties in the south. Other countries under consideration include Canada, the UK, Azerbaijan (proposed by Israel), Switzerland (which Tel Aviv accepts despite its neutral policy raising doubts about participation), and Morocco, which participates in the Gaza Peace Council.

However, sources emphasize distinguishing between the third-party monitoring force—whose personnel will not exceed 40 to 50 members—and the alternative to UNIFIL, whose mandate ends in 2026. With no clear indication or proposal for an alternative, sources following MTV reveal Lebanon is seeking at least a mandate extension for UNIFIL to cover 2027, meaning it would continue operations even during its withdrawal phase. Lebanon insists on having a viable alternative and currently rejects direct military-to-military coordination as desired by Israel, even though the U.S. views its presence in the joint coordination committee (MCGforL) as temporary and expects it to end by year’s end.

While Israel still refuses to engage in new trial zones or renew a ceasefire before executing the series of demolitions at Ali al-Taher and other locations, MTV learned that Israelis and Americans want Lebanon to complete the weapons removal mission in the Delta area—that is, the selected region in southern Litani, including Ghindoriya—as a pilot zone. However, the Lebanese response is that Israeli attacks are obstructing this mission.

Details in the attached video.