A press tour in southern Lebanon organized by the Israeli army on Oct. 13, 2024, showing soldiers on patrol near the border in the Naqoura region. (Credit: Menahem Kahana/AFP)
The Israeli army will withdraw the 146th Division from the border between Israel and Lebanon, where they have been deployed since the start of the war and during the ground offensive in Lebanon, Israeli army radio reported. The "Galilee division," which before the war was the only one mobilized along the Blue Line on the Israeli side, will "control the entire border line."
The radio explained that the Northern Command of the Israeli army had, since the start of the border war on Oct. 8, 2023, divided the sector between two divisions. The "Galilee division" (91st), which previously controlled the entire border from Mount Hermon in the east to Ras Naqoura in the west, had found itself solely responsible for the eastern zone, while the 146th was in charge of the western zone, allowing for a "more restricted area, facilitating better distribution of attention and resources" during the expanded Israeli offensive against Lebanon and its ground operations.
Withdrawal conditional on the stability of the cease-fire
The withdrawal of the 146th Division will occur "in the near future," according to the radio station. This army movement was planned "for several months and was conditioned on the stability of the cease-fire," reached almost six months ago.
This cease-fire, which came into effect on Nov. 27, 2024, is breached almost daily by gunfire and airstrikes from the Israeli army, which have killed at least 164 people over the past six months, according to L'Orient Today's count. The army claims to intervene against what it describes as "violations" of the truce terms by Hezbollah, which is supposed to withdraw from the region south of the Litani concurrently with the redeployment of the Lebanese Army in the area. The latter, along with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), is tasked with dismantling Hezbollah's military infrastructure. The Israeli army also continues to occupy five positions it considers "strategic" in southern Lebanon, along the border. In its statement, the Israeli army radio said that, according to its information, the cease-fire is "so far well respected by Hezbollah." The latter claimed responsibility for only one mortar shell fired towards Israeli territory since late November, which provoked a deadly retaliatory strike by Israel.
The 146th Division, attached to the northern command of the Israeli army, was the first reservist unit deployed to the border with Lebanon since Oct. 8, 2023. The army announced that it had been deployed "to conduct limited, localized, and targeted operations against Hezbollah targets and infrastructures in southwestern Lebanon" after the start of ground operations. It is an armored infantry division composed of seven brigades – two infantry, two armored, one paratrooper, one artillery, and one logistics – with about 50 battalions, companies, squads, and platoons, according to a 2024 organizational chart published on the division's Wikipedia page.