The US ambassador's tour in southern Lebanon coincides with a military escalation and intense parliamentary debates regarding arms control

On Tuesday, the US Ambassador to Lebanon, Michel Issa, toured Zawtar al-Gharbiyya and Qaqaiya al-Jisr in southern Lebanon, accompanied by a delegation from the Council for Development and Reconstruction, inspecting service facilities and infrastructure. His tour coincided with a movement of Israeli army vehicles inside neighboring Zawtar al-Sharqiya and the flight of an Israeli drone in the airspace of the region, at a time when Israel reiterated talk about the faltering of the “experimental zones” experiment, of which Zawtar al-Gharbiya was one of its first arenas.

Issa began his tour from the Monastery of Our Lady of the Annunciation in Zawtar al-Gharbiya, where he inspected a number of facilities, while simultaneously recording the movement of Israeli vehicles inside Zawtar al-Sharqiya, and an Israeli drone flew over the area.

The tour gains importance given the position of Zawtar in the field arrangements that the south witnessed during recent months, after Zawtar al-Gharbiyya formed one of the towns of the first experimental phase, while Zawtar al-Sharqiya remained outside the Lebanese army’s deployment with the continued Israeli presence and movements there.

Zawtar Gharbiyya is in the experimental phase

On July 21, 2026, the Lebanese Army began the deployment of its units inside Zawtar al-Gharbiya, within the first phase of the “experimental areas,” which also included Faron and Srifa.

The army confirmed that day that its units entered Zawtar al-Gharbiya, after coordination with the Military Coordination Group for Lebanon, while it did not enter Zawtar al-Sharqiya. He announced that the Israeli forces approached the outskirts of the town and opened fire near his members while carrying out the deployment mission, which obstructed its completion.

Since then, Zawtar al-Sharqiya has remained outside the Lebanese army’s deployment, and has witnessed, over the past months, Israeli operations that targeted homes, buildings, and public facilities. Last August, the Lebanese Army announced that Israeli operations led to the destruction of the municipal building, the public school, the dispensary, a nursery for children, and a number of homes, and it considered that the continuation of these operations would hinder the deployment of its units and the return of residents.

The American ambassador's tour coincided with Israel's re-presentation of the issue of the "experimental areas" from a different angle, as the Israeli "Channel 14" said that the "experimental path" to disarm Hezbollah had failed, holding the Lebanese army responsible for not implementing what Tel Aviv considered to be obligations required of it.

The channel quoted an Israeli political source as saying that estimates in Tel Aviv indicate, according to the Israeli account, that there is coordination between elements in the Lebanese army and Hezbollah, adding: “The experimental path has failed, and there is no other definition that can be given to it.”

These accusations remain part of the Israeli position on the performance of the Lebanese army, in exchange for repeated Lebanese assurances that the army is implementing the decisions of the political authority and deploying within the capabilities and field conditions available to it, while Lebanon links the completion of its deployment to the withdrawal of Israeli forces and the cessation of operations that hinder its entry into a number of areas.

Israel informed Washington earlier of its objection to expanding the experiment in experimental areas, and linked the move to new areas to conditions related to the disarmament of Hezbollah and monitoring and verification mechanisms, at a time when Lebanon insists that the cessation of operations, destruction, and Israeli withdrawal be a gateway to the completion of the army’s deployment.

Israeli movements in conjunction with the tour

During the presence of the American delegation in Zawtar al-Gharbiya, it was recorded that Israeli vehicles were moving inside Zawtar al-Sharqiya, coinciding with the flight of a drone over the region’s airspace.

This was accompanied by the continuation of military operations in a number of regions of the south, where bombing and bombing operations affected towns and regions. Among them were Al-Mansouri, Kafr Benit, Ali Al-Taher, Kunine, and Majdal Zoun, while military and drone aircraft continued to fly over southern areas, reaching Beirut and its southern suburbs.

The escalation came after positions by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in which he said that his forces destroyed what he described as “Hezbollah’s largest strongholds” in the heights of Beaufort Castle and Ali Al-Taher, announcing the continued destruction of “the infrastructure in the security zone in Lebanon,” and indicating that the operations have not ended yet.

A telephone station near the Monastery of the Annunciation

During his tour in Zawtar Gharbia, Issa, accompanied by employees from a cell phone company, inspected a communications station that the company had installed near the Monastery of Our Lady of the Annunciation.

Restoring communications services falls within the efforts aimed at rehabilitating the affected towns and providing the necessary resources for the return of residents, in addition to restarting electricity networks, opening roads, removing rubble, and repairing public facilities.

Restoring infrastructure constitutes one of the parallel paths for the army’s deployment in towns where field conditions allow it to enter, in light of extensive damage to roads, facilities, and services during military operations.

Bridge rattling bridge

After Zawtar al-Gharbiyya, Issa moved to the town of Qaqaiyat al-Jisr, where he inspected the bridge as part of his tour of infrastructure projects in the region.

The Qaqiat al-Jisr - Zawtar al-Gharbiyya line constitutes an essential corridor to reach the town, and the Lebanese army took it when it began its deployment in Zawtar al-Gharbiya, last July, in light of the inaccessibility of it from the eastern side of Zawtar.

The bridge is considered one of the vital facilities in the road network linking the Nabatieh region to a number of southern towns, while the file of rehabilitating damaged roads and bridges falls within the projects of restoring services and facilitating the return and movement of residents in areas that witnessed extensive military operations.

Israeli army leaders fear that remaining forces in Lebanese territory throughout the winter may cost them a heavy bloody price, with a possible decline in operational capabilities in difficult weather, and intelligence information indicating that Hezbollah is trying to operate cells in the region for the sake of guerrilla warfare.

Officers in the Northern Command of the Israeli army warned, according to the Walla website, that the stagnation of forces in the field and the harsh winter conditions will pose a long-term threat to the army, and will cost it dearly, and lead to deaths. According to the officers, intelligence already shows that the enemy is learning, drawing lessons and trying to operate guerrilla cells without anyone noticing.

Estimates in the army's Northern Command are that Hezbollah will not remain forever in a state of complete restraint and without reaction, and its senior leaders are impatiently awaiting developments in the Iranian arena, and everything depends on Tehran.

In return, at this stage, the Israeli army has designated an “extermination zone” between the area under Israeli control and the area under Hezbollah control, and according to the definition of the Commander of the Northern Command, Major General Rafi Milo, anyone entering this area will be eliminated.

The “Walla” website said that diligent efforts have been made in recent weeks to enhance cooperation between the ground and air forces and military intelligence “Aman” in order to accelerate the precise closure of fire circles. This coordination has yielded tangible field results on the ground, but the most important question that arises in the corridors of leadership is: How long will this situation continue? What will be the fate of the forces with the arrival of the harsh winter?

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam confirmed, before the House of Representatives, his government’s position on the negotiation tracks and arms control, stressing that the state alone negotiates in the name of Lebanon and that arms control is an enshrined constitutional obligation.

The House of Representatives session witnessed intense discussions and broad political questions from representatives about the results of the war, the government’s performance, and the negotiation process.