Israeli army withdraws Golani Brigade forces from southern Lebanon

The Israeli army announced on Wednesday that Golani Brigade forces are withdrawing from southern Lebanon for a “strategic readiness exercise”, as Al Jazeera reports in its liveblog. The troops, which operated under the 36th Division, had been deployed on what Israel calls the “second line of defence” in the southern Lebanon area.

According to the Israeli army’s statement, the forces destroyed more than 900 sites used by Hezbollah during the operations and found weapons depots, military bases and tunnel infrastructure. This is one of the largest claims Israel has presented about the damage inflicted on the Lebanese group in a single sector.

The withdrawal of the Golani Brigade comes after months of intense fighting in southern Lebanon, where Israel has carried out a ground and air offensive against Hezbollah, also creating a security “yellow line” inside Lebanese territory, which the Israeli army says it will fully control.

Nevertheless, no end to the conflict in southern Lebanon is in sight: the Israeli army has warned it will continue to act against Hezbollah, while Lebanon accuses Israel of continuing violations of its sovereignty and of keeping troops across the border.