Israeli forces cross Litani River to south Lebanon’s Zawtar in costly bid to ‘exert pressure’ amid talk of US-Iran truce

Israeli troops and vehicles crossed the Litani River earlier this week to assume positions Tuesday on its northern bank on the outskirts of the Zawtar villages, where they are facing sustained pushback from Hezbollah forces. The advance represents a costly extension of Israel’s operational depth into southern Lebanon, with the aim of later reaching more advantageous terrain on the Litani’s northern bank, a retired military official told Mada Masr. The operation also seeks to exert “field pressure to improve political terms” as negotiations toward a regional settlement between the United States and Iran reach a critical stage, the former official said. Israeli forces have sought for weeks to move north toward the twin villages of Zawtar from Deir Siryan, where their troops were stationed at the beginning of May and subject to repeated fire across the Litani valley from Hezbollah forces. A displaced resident from Zawtar who is in contact with sources on the ground in the village said that Israel launched heavy airstrikes before advancing. Around 18 military vehicles, including Merkava tanks, then took the longer access road from Deir Siryan, according to the source, who said this option is a paved and relatively flat route leading toward Zawtar’s outskirts, allowing Israeli forces to avoid the more rugged terrain further west. “They are now positioned inside the residential neighborhood overlooking the river, Deir Siryan , and Taybeh — meaning on the outskirts of Zawtar,” the source said. Satellite imagery of the outskirts of Zawtar circulated online, May 26. Hezbollah has already conducted several attacks targeting the troop incursion at Zawtar. The group said Tuesday that it targeted Israeli troops concentrated “near the riverbed” and “on the outskirts of Zawtar.” Its fighters engaged Israeli forces at “point-blank range” near the Scout Complex in Zawtar Wednesday, using light and medium weapons, forcing the invading troops to retreat, after which Israel launched heavy airstrikes on the area, the group said. On Thursday, the group also said it targeted a building housing an Israeli armored unit command near the water reservoir in Zawtar al-Sharqiyah with a heavy missile, and later said it had launched an Ababil attack drone to strike a Merkava tank near the town pond, scoring a confirmed hit. Israeli forces’ focus on Zawtar al-Sharqiyah and Zawtar al-Gharbiyah, the twin villages located in a sensitive area that effectively links the Nabatieh axis with the central sector of southern Lebanon, should be read as a bid to open up the field’s depth toward Nabatieh, or to fragment and separate the eastern and western operational axes from one another along the southern Lebanese front, retired Lebanese Armed Forces Brigadier General Mounir Shehadeh told Mada Masr. It would be logical for the Israeli military to try and consolidate the advance by pushing from Zawtar toward Nabatieh al-Fawqa or the surrounding ridgelines that overlook the city of Nabatieh, he said, since these areas of high ground and key roads could enhance both their firepower and intelligence capabilities. But under continuous Hezbollah fire, even sustaining the advance as far as Zawtar will be difficult and costly, said Shehadeh. Regardless of the overwhelming air superiority, prolonging a ground presence in Zawtar or elsewhere requires territorial control, secure supply lines and a domestic political capacity to absorb losses, said Shehadeh, adding that “all three conditions are difficult in the southern Lebanon context.” Israel’s tanks and armored personnel carriers are much more exposed targets than they were in previous wars given Hezbollah’s increasing use of drone warfare, he said, and the advance therefore incurs constant troop casualties , sustained attrition to armored vehicles, and intensive deployment of precision-guided munitions, drones and air defenses. And “as units advance, their rear lines and supply chains become longer and more vulnerable,” he adds, “requiring continuous supplies of fuel, ammunition, communications, medical evacuation, and protection of supply routes.” As a result, the advance to Zawtar itself will be tough enough to sustain, while pushing it further to “enter the city of Nabatieh itself” would be even more complex since it is a “wide, dense urban environment that is highly complex both logistically and in terms of security,” Shehadeh concluded. As a result, Shehadeh characterized the advance as “closer to an attempt to exert pressure and attrition by fire through a limited incursion rather than to exert stable control over the land.” The advance comes amid reports of progress in US–Iran talks , which have added to hopes that a broader regional agreement could include an end to Israel’s war on Lebanon. Iranian officials have insisted that a settlement include such an agreement, warning that an Israeli escalation in Beirut could derail diplomatic efforts, Al Jazeera correspondent Ali Hashem reported. Shehadeh linked the Israeli escalation to the ongoing US–Iran negotiations, saying Israel is likely using “field pressure to [try and] improve political terms, increasing the cost of Iranian influence in the region, and testing the limits of responses.” A Lebanese military delegation is also scheduled to travel to the US at the end of this week to meet with an Israeli military delegation in the countries’ first ever direct talks. The talks are set to focus on consolidating the ceasefire in Lebanon, calling for Israel’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon, and requesting the necessary equipment and technology to support the Lebanese military’s deployment in the south once the truce is secured. However, Shehadeh said Lebanese–Israeli negotiations are primarily linked to borders and security arrangements, while the broader strategic trajectory is more closely tied to US–Iran talks. “The two tracks are connected, but the dominant influence is the US–Iran negotiation process,” he said. “It is not in Israel’s interest for the US to reach an agreement with Iran,” he added, arguing that its ground operations should not be understood in isolation but as part of a wider regional equation. “[But] historical experience from [Israel’s invasion of Lebanon in the] 1980s has shown that military control does not necessarily translate to prolonged presence,” said the former brigadier general. “Even in the case of a significant advance, turning it into a lasting reality requires enormous human, military and political costs.” The post Israeli forces cross Litani River to south Lebanon’s Zawtar in costly bid to ‘exert pressure’ amid talk of US-Iran truce first appeared on Mada Masr .