West Zawtar’s ‘Pilot Zone’ Stalls: No Second Lebanon Zone Agreed
Two months after Israel left West Zawtar under a US-backed plan, Reuters says no new pilot zone exists and residents still lack water and power.
BEIRUT — Reuters reported on October 8 that the first “pilot zone” in the US-brokered plan for Israeli troops to leave southern Lebanon has not led to a second one. Israeli troops pulled out of West Zawtar, a village in the Nabatieh district, in July. Two months later, Reuters said, no further pilot zones have been agreed, and residents say their village is no model for anything.
How the pilot zone was supposed to work
Under a trilateral framework that Israel, Lebanon and the United States agreed on June 26, small areas would serve as a test of a phased process. Israeli forces would pull back from a village, the Lebanese army would deploy and clear it of Hezbollah weapons, and the zone would then expand. The US State Department described the idea in July as a way to “build confidence between the parties,” according to The National.
The timeline below shows how far the process has moved.
- June 26: Israel, Lebanon and the US agree the trilateral framework, according to The National.
- July 20: State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott says pilot-zone operations began in Froun, Srifa and Zawtar al-Gharbiyeh. Lebanese officials told The National that Israeli troops were already absent from Froun and Srifa.
- July 21: The Lebanese army says engineering units entered Zawtar al-Gharbiyeh and that Israeli forces then opened fire nearby. The Israeli military said it fired warning shots after Lebanese troops crossed about 150 metres into its declared “security zone,” according to the BBC.
- October 8: Reuters reports that no further pilot zones have been agreed, and the Jerusalem Post reports, citing Israel’s KAN News, that Hezbollah members remain in the three pilot areas posing as civilians.
What residents and officials say
Abed Ezzedine, the mayor of West Zawtar, told Reuters the programme was not a success: “it’s not successful,” he said. He said the village had been promised it would be a “model town,” but electricity and running water are still largely unavailable. About 70 families have returned, mostly living in the undamaged corners of their homes, and the Lebanese state has delivered 16 prefabricated houses that are mostly empty because they lack power and water.
Residents also describe Israeli surveillance drones overhead and controlled demolitions in neighbouring East Zawtar, which Israeli troops still occupy. Some villagers said they must ask for permission, through a US-led coordination mechanism between the Lebanese and Israeli militaries, to reach olive groves near Israeli positions. Reuters reported that some feared approval would arrive after the harvest.
The positions of the parties
The Israeli military told Reuters that work to remove the threat of Hezbollah’s weapons had not been completed. It said drones are used to identify threats and that movement restrictions on villagers are meant to protect troops. Israel has also said the Lebanese army is not acting effectively against Hezbollah infrastructure. The Jerusalem Post reported that Israeli officials have said the pilot programme failed, and that in August Israeli security officials accused the Lebanese army of not destroying targets whose coordinates Israel had supplied. These are Israeli claims, and the Lebanese army has not been quoted in the Reuters report.
A State Department spokesperson told Reuters the pilot-zone process is “the only viable path” to security for both countries. The spokesperson said the zone would expand after the Lebanese army carries out clearance operations in the initial area, and that Hezbollah’s disarmament “is an integral part of this process.”
Why it matters
Peter’s World analysis, based on the sources cited. Judgments are labeled as such.
The pilot zone was designed to solve a sequencing problem. Israel says it will not leave until Hezbollah is disarmed, and Lebanon’s government says it cannot disarm Hezbollah while Israeli troops hold its territory. West Zawtar was meant to show that a small step by each side could break the loop. After two months, it shows that even a small step can stall when each side measures success differently. Israel counts weapons removed. Residents count whether the lights and water work.
The evidence also points to a gap in who is responsible for what. The framework puts clearance on the Lebanese army and coordination on a trilateral Military Coordination Group, but basic services fall to a Lebanese state that is still extending power lines to the village. In our judgment, a zone that looks unfinished to its own residents is a weak argument for expanding the model, whatever Hezbollah’s presence turns out to be.
Two caveats matter. The claim that Hezbollah operatives are present rests on a single Israeli broadcaster, KAN, and the Jerusalem Post’s report, and we could not verify it independently. The resident accounts come from one village. A second pilot zone, or a public report from the coordination group, would show whether this is a stall or a failure.
Sources
- Reuters via bdnews24: Surrounded by Israelis in Lebanon’s ‘model town’
- The National: Israeli withdrawal from south Lebanon ‘pilot zones’ has begun, US says
- BBC: Lebanese army says troops deploying in ‘pilot zone’ after Israeli withdrawal
- The Jerusalem Post: Hezbollah still present inside southern Lebanon pilot zones
