Israel estimates: Lebanese Army Chief of Staff is coordinating activity in southern Lebanon with Hezbollah | First Publication
Israel claims that the Lebanese Army, led by Chief of Staff Haykal, is coordinating its activity in the south of the country with Hezbollah to avoid friction. According to IDF sources, despite the Israeli withdrawal as part of the "Lebanese pilot," the Lebanese Army is barely locating and destroying terrorist infrastructure - far from the expectations of the Israeli system.
According to sources in the Northern Command, Israel estimates that the Chief of Staff of the Lebanese Army, General Rudolph Haykal, is coordinating his activity in southern Lebanon with Hezbollah in order to avoid friction. As mentioned, in accordance with the heavy American pressure exerted by the White House on the government in Israel, a "Lebanese pilot" began, within the framework of which the IDF withdrew from two main focal points, one south of the yellow line and the second north of the yellow line in southern Lebanon.
The expectation in the security establishment and the political echelon in Israel was that the Lebanese Army would scan the terrain, locate weaponry and terrorist infrastructure, and confiscate or destroy them. According to sources in the IDF, so far the Lebanese Army has located weaponry only in a very pinpointed manner, far from the scope of the IDF's expectations in terms of quantity and the number of geographical locations.
It has become known to Walla that Israel claims the Lebanese Army is coordinating its activity in southern Lebanon with Hezbollah with the goal of preventing friction between the sides. It was further learned by Walla that the Lebanese Chief of Staff, Rudolph Haykal, is personally exposed to the process and does not prevent it.
Haykal was appointed to the position in March 2025 and the expectations from him were high, but in practice, according to sources in Israel, there is a process here similar to what occurred after Operation Northern Arrows in Lebanon: the IDF withdrew from the territory, the Lebanese Army entered for patrols in the area, and in the bottom line lied to the IDF, to the Americans, and to the Lebanese government, that it was locating and destroying terrorist infrastructure, while in practice it did nothing.
Sources in Israel who are exposed to the political axis claim that the Lebanese Army is walking a fine line because it is very afraid of a military clash with Hezbollah that would drag the country into a civil war, and therefore the expectations from it are low. The assessment in Israel is that the Lebanese Army will not succeed in meeting the mission, and now the question arises whether the Prime Minister will express the concern to the US President, who is demanding to accelerate the process, and more than hints at a similar process in Syria and in the Gaza Strip.
According to military sources, so far the Lebanese Army is mainly busy with patrols, redeployment of forces in the field, and pinpoint checks of Hezbollah sites. The expectations in the IDF are that the Lebanese Army will scan buildings, civilian homes, and known Hezbollah infrastructure, not only in the areas from which the IDF exited but in all areas, in order to demilitarize the area in accordance with the agreement between the countries.
