South Lebanon’s pilot zones: Between military arrangements and hopes for stability

Report by Wissam Nasrallah, English adaptation by Karine Keuchkerian

Cars pass along this road near Srifa, residents move in and out, and Lebanese army patrols are deployed at intersections. But what is happening here goes beyond routine security measures. The area lies at the center of discussions over what are known as “pilot zones.”

 

The Lebanese-Israeli agreement is based on two pilot zones. In the first, the Lebanese army would maintain control over areas where it is already deployed south of the Litani River. The initial pilot area includes the villages of Froun, Ghandouriyeh, Srifa, Qalaouiyeh, and Borj Qalaouiye, where weapons would be cleared.

In the second zone, the Israeli military would withdraw from villages it occupies, beginning with Zawtar el-Gharbiyeh, allowing the Lebanese army to redeploy there.

The scene reflects the role that the Lebanese state says it is prepared to assume if these understandings move from paper to full implementation.

However, the path forward remains complicated. Lebanon is demanding a full Israeli withdrawal from areas that remain occupied before expanding any further steps, while Israel is linking any withdrawal to security guarantees and assurances that there will be no armed presence outside state control.

Amid these two positions, technical and military meetings continue, while discussions over the “pilot zones” intensify. Israel views them as a test of the Lebanese state’s ability to fully assert its authority in the south.

For residents of these villages, however, the situation is different. They are not waiting for a new name for a political plan or another round of negotiations abroad. They want this fragile calm to become lasting stability and for the military checkpoints seen today to become a symbol of the state embracing its people, rather than a reminder that the border remains vulnerable to every new escalation or round of negotiations.