IDF Northern Command officials see no fixed timeline for withdrawing from positions north and south of the Yellow Line in southern Lebanon. Once withdrawal occurs, the Lebanese Armed Forces is expected to handle searches, dismantle Hezbollah infrastructure, and remove militants from the area.

Commanders remain skeptical that the LAF can execute the signed framework in a thorough and professional way. A substantial share of LAF personnel are Shiite soldiers who are unlikely to challenge Hezbollah directly on the ground.

The IDF therefore plans to hold all current positions in southern Lebanon until the LAF launches its pilot operation.

Under the bilateral understandings, the LAF must signal when it is prepared to remove explosives, collect weapons and equipment, and eliminate bunkers, tunnels, and other military sites constructed by Hezbollah and Iran over two decades.

A security source indicated that Lebanese authorities are expected to name a start date within the coming weeks. Until then, IDF units will continue locating, mapping, and destroying terrorist infrastructure.

The rate of engineering operations against Hezbollah sites is rising steadily. IDF figures show that nearly all structures in villages across the western and central sectors of southern Lebanon have been razed, while roughly 73 percent of buildings in the eastern sector have been destroyed.

One officer noted that after Operation Northern Arrows, LAF leaders assured American and European officials they would clear frontline villages near the border of weapons and fighters. In practice, those promises went unfulfilled because commanders feared retaliation from Hezbollah.

Last week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu toured the security zone in southern Lebanon with Defense Minister Israel Katz, National Security Council Chief Shmuel Ben-Ezra, IDF Deputy Chief of Staff Maj.-Gen. Tamir Yadai, and the premier's military secretary Maj.-Gen. Guy Markizeno.

The group received updates from Northern Command Chief Maj.-Gen. Rafi Milo, 91st Division Commander Brig.-Gen. Yuval Gez, and additional brigade leaders deployed in the zone.