- 17:23
On Monday in southern Litani, the Lebanese army went beyond a routine field visit, staging a carefully orchestrated tour for its ambassadors, chargés d’affaires, and military attachés to showcase its operations.
From the sector command in the southern city of Tyre, the army’s commander-in-chief, General Rodolph Haykal, outlined to foreign representatives the first phase of the plan deployed in the South, in line with the decisions of political authorities and Lebanon’s international commitments. The presentation was technical rather than rhetorical, focusing on completed missions, operational constraints, and realities on the ground.
According to a military source interviewed by This is Beirut, the initiative serves a dual purpose. On one hand, it allows the diplomatic community to see firsthand what is being done on the ground. On the other, it counters a persistent narrative that the Lebanese army remains inactive south of the Litani River. “There is a battle of narratives underway. Some seek to justify Israeli strikes by claiming that nothing is being done on the Lebanese side. The army has chosen to respond with transparency, but a controlled transparency,” explains the source.
Targeted Inspections, Sector by Sector
On the ground, diplomats were taken to multiple positions and sensitive areas, particularly those heavily impacted by last year’s Israel-Hezbollah war. They observed unit deployments, the close proximity to Israeli lines, and the complexity of terrain shaped by valleys, steep slopes, and wooded areas.
According to a military source, the army’s operations are conducted within the framework of the ceasefire supervision mechanism. When intelligence is received, whether from Israel, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) or the mechanism itself, reporting an arms cache or suspicious installation, units are immediately dispatched. “If the site exists, it is inspected. Anything the army can seize is collected; the rest is neutralized or destroyed,” the source told This is Beirut.
The source also highlighted that many operations take place in open areas such as mountains, valleys and rugged terrain, historically used to conceal military infrastructure. Southern Litani is divided into successive geographic sectors, which are systematically combed. Once a zone is fully inspected, it is declared secure and reported to the international mechanism before the army moves on to the next sector.
Constant Caution on Hazardous Terrain
The tour also highlighted a rarely seen reality: the risks faced by units in the field. Some of the inspected sites pose serious dangers, particularly due to caches that may be booby-trapped or have deteriorated over time from humidity and poor storage conditions. “Explosions can occur without it being immediately clear whether they are the result of sabotage, a trap, or a technical failure,” said the military official.
Regarding private homes, the source emphasized a sensitive point: the army does not intervene systemically. “Searches are carried out only based on precise intelligence. They are neither routine nor an objective in themselves.” Recent operations, particularly in certain southern localities, involved targeted searches, none of which led to the discovery of weapons.
Showing Rather Than Broadcasting
A key moment of Monday’s tour was the visit to a former Hezbollah facility now under the army’s control. Unlike the previous media-focused tour in November, this was a deliberate choice. “This time, it was not simply about responding to public criticism. The goal was to equip foreign capitals with factual information so they could assess the situation for themselves,” said the source.
All operations carried out by the Lebanese army since the 2024 ceasefire are documented, filmed, and archived, but their release remains deliberately limited. “The priority is to protect residents and their families, and to avoid providing information that could be exploited by the enemy. Showing does not necessarily mean exposing,” said the military official.
The army has therefore chosen an indirect approach, allowing foreign representatives to observe the situation firsthand and relay a more accurate picture to their capitals. Several diplomats privately praised the professionalism of the units and the clarity of the explanations provided.
A Message Ahead of Upcoming Milestones
The tour comes at a particularly busy moment on the diplomatic calendar, ahead of critical meetings, starting with the Paris session on December 18, which will focus on supporting the Lebanese army and the next steps of the mechanism. Attendees will include the army’s commander-in-chief, US envoy Morgan Ortagus, Saudi envoy Prince Yazid bin Farhan, and France’s Middle East advisor, Anne-Claire Legendre.
For the military, the tour also underscored a central point: consolidating state control south of the Litani is a gradual process requiring time, resources, and clear political backing. “The army is carrying out its assigned tasks with limited resources and under constant pressure,” said the military official. “The rest will depend on whether the international community chooses to support this effort rather than judge it from afar.”
South of the Litani River, the army has laid bare its positions. Whether what the diplomats witnessed will shape decisions made far from the field in the days and weeks ahead remains to be seen.
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