US Increases Pressure on Israel to Withdraw from Southern Lebanon

According to informed sources cited by the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, Israel is facing growing pressure from the United States to withdraw its troops from Lebanon, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seeks to maintain a security zone within Lebanese territory.

The newspaper quoted one source indicating that among the proposals under consideration is the implementation of pilot projects whereby Israel would pull back its forces from specific areas in southern Lebanon, allowing the Lebanese army to take over deployment in those zones.

A senior U.S. official confirmed that Washington supports this approach.

Israeli soldiers stationed in Lebanon find themselves caught between American restrictions on military operations and domestic pressure to continue fighting against the Iran-backed Hezbollah, placing them in a precarious position that could lead to renewed conflict and jeopardize the truce between Washington and Tehran.

Tehran has conditioned the cessation of fighting in Lebanon as part of a preliminary peace agreement signed with President Trump last week, causing a divergence of objectives between the United States and Israel after years of close coordination against Iran. This disagreement has strained phone communications between Trump and Netanyahu in recent weeks.

Michael Milstein, a former Israeli intelligence officer, described the situation as "a dilemma we created ourselves. You find yourself unable to withdraw because it harms deterrence and security interests, yet at the same time your hands are tied."

President Trump is aiming to end the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah before the midterm elections, while Netanyahu faces internal pressure from both allies and opponents to continue his campaign against Hezbollah ahead of the autumn elections.

Hezbollah began launching rockets across the border following the Israeli-American attack on Iran, to which Israel responded by deploying forces and establishing control over a six-mile strip inside Lebanon, which it describes as a security zone.

This move forms part of Israel's new defense doctrine focused on pushing threats away from its borders, the same strategy applied in Gaza and Syria after the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023.

Israeli military officials state that the buffer zone was primarily designed to keep Hezbollah's anti-tank missiles out of range of Israeli cities, but exploding drones have since been able to reach much farther distances and have become a leading cause of soldier casualties.

Military analysts warn that troops stationed in fixed positions have become easy targets.