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Israeli military fired on Lebanese army units deploying into a designated pilot zone in southern Lebanon on Tuesday, in what analysts described as an early and critical test of a US-backed framework agreement meant to produce a phased Israeli withdrawal from occupied Lebanese territory.
The incident unfolded the same day Lebanese President Joseph Aoun arrived in Washington for a meeting with President Donald Trump, who helped broker the deal.
The Lebanese army said its units began moving into Zawtar al-Gharbiya, a village in the Nabatieh region, as part of the first ground implementation of the trilateral framework agreement signed last month.
An AFP correspondent on the scene observed military vehicles, including one bearing the Lebanese flag, entering the village, which sits on the edge of what Israel has designated its "security zone," a strip running up to 10 kilometers into Lebanese territory.
Shortly after the deployment began, the Lebanese military said Israeli military"opened fire in the vicinity of these units," warning that the incident would hinder further deployment.
Israel's military disputed the characterization, saying it had only fired warning shots into the air after Lebanese soldiers moved into an area it said fell outside the agreed pilot boundaries.
The Lebanese army command insisted its troops had deployed only within Zawtar al-Gharbiya and called on Israel to "address any problem through the Military Coordination Group for Lebanon (MCG4L) and through the approved coordination and communication channels, instead of carrying out attacks."
In a separate episode that compounded tensions, the Lebanese Red Cross reported that two of its paramedics were wounded and an ambulance severely damaged when a landmine detonated near a convoy entering an Israeli-occupied area to search for a missing person.
The Red Cross said it had obtained the required permits before entering the zone and was working to secure safe passage for the injured rescuers.
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The US State Department announced Monday evening that Lebanese army units had begun assuming security responsibilities in three villages, namely Zawtar al-Gharbiya, Froun, and Srifa.
Of the three, Israeli militaryare not present in Froun and Srifa, both of which sit on the edge of the security zone and where the Lebanese army already maintains a presence.
Israeli troops had deployed to the outskirts of Zawtar al-Gharbiya alone, making it the sole location requiring active Israeli repositioning.
The Israeli military acknowledged it would "adjust its force posture in one of the pilot areas."
The June 26 framework agreement, signed in Washington, envisions a gradual Israeli withdrawal from the large swathes of southern Lebanon that Israeli militaryoccupied during the recent war against Iran-backed Hezbollah.
Under the deal, the Lebanese army is to take over security in the south while Hezbollah is to be disarmed, although there is no established timetable for full Israeli withdrawal.
Hezbollah has repeatedly rejected the agreement and refused to lay down its weapons, tying any arrangement to broader US-Iran negotiations.
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