A confidential security annex attached to the Israel-Lebanon agreement grants Israeli military forces ongoing authority to conduct operations inside the Yellow Line and makes any future withdrawal from southern Lebanon dependent on conditions on the ground — not a fixed schedule, according to a report by N12.
While the broader Israel-Lebanon agreement was made publicly available on the U.S. State Department’s website, the accompanying security annex was kept secret at the explicit request of the Lebanese government. The core provisions of that annex have now been approved for public disclosure.
A central element of the annex states that neither government is bound to a set withdrawal timeline. Instead, any Israeli military redeployments will be determined by operational assessments and whether specific objectives have been met — a framework that Lebanon agreed to.
The annex also outlines a gradual process for bringing the Lebanese Army into designated pilot zones. Under the disclosed terms, no new pilot areas can be established without Israeli approval. Two such zones currently exist in areas previously agreed upon by both sides, and Israeli officials expect it will take several weeks before Lebanese forces are actually deployed there.
A separate provision formally establishes the Israeli military’s right to act within the Yellow Line, authorizing operations against both immediate threats and those that are still developing.
Beyond concerns about Hezbollah testing the agreement on the ground, Israeli officials are also tracking what they see as a potential indirect challenge from Iran. According to N12, Israeli officials believe Tehran may try to leverage its separate dealings with the United States to push for additional concessions from Israel.
Israeli assessments suggest Iran could urge Washington to pressure Israel into pulling back from Lebanese territory, or potentially use progress on an Iran nuclear deal as leverage. Israeli officials fear this approach could be used to push the U.S. into demanding a full Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon — even as the annex explicitly ties any such withdrawal to operational conditions and preserves Israel’s military freedom of action in the area.
