Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday that he had instructed the IDF to respond forcefully against Hezbollah in Lebanon, but senior IDF officials made clear that in practice, there has been no change in the rules of engagement.
Netanyahu issued his statement Saturday night at 8:49 p.m. local time, after a series of incidents, including during Shabbat, in which the Hezbollah violated the ceasefire and launched drones and rockets into Israeli territory and toward IDF forces operating in southern Lebanon. The statement was brief, saying that "Prime Minister Netanyahu instructed the IDF to strike Hezbollah targets in Lebanon with force."
Two and a half hours later, at 11:13 p.m., the IDF Spokesperson's Unit issued a statement saying that "a short while ago, the IDF struck military-use structures used by the Hezbollah terrorist organization across southern Lebanon. The structures that were struck were used by Hezbollah against IDF forces and the State of Israel. The IDF will continue to act with determination against threats to the citizens of the State of Israel and IDF forces, and acts in accordance with the directives of the political echelon."
IDF officials clarified that the strike was not unusual, and certainly was not "forceful." According to the senior officials, it was carried out "within the rules of the game," with the IDF careful to operate only in southern Lebanon and in areas without civilians. The officials said Netanyahu's statement was a smokescreen meant to reduce public pressure: In practice, there has been no change in the directives to the IDF, whose activity remains as it was, either in response to incidents or in an effort to prevent them.
The officials added that Netanyahu's statement was no coincidence and was intended, as they put it, "to shift the blame" onto the IDF, portraying the military as the party failing to deliver. In reality, they added, the activity is being carried out precisely according to the directives of the political echelon and, in effect, according to the guidelines dictated by President Donald Trump in Washington, who announced the ceasefire in Lebanon and, this past weekend, its extension by another three weeks.
This is not the first time in recent weeks that a dispute has emerged between the IDF and Israel's political echelon over operations in Lebanon. At the beginning of the month, a senior officer told reporters in a briefing that the activity in Lebanon was not intended to disarm Hezbollah, and would not achieve that goal. The remarks contradicted public statements by the political echelon, which had given northern residents the impression that this time the campaign would not end without a decisive outcome.
The furious response from northern local authority heads and residents was not long in coming: The IDF again found itself caught in the middle, also because it is the only body communicating with residents as the prime minister and ministers continue to avoid visiting the area.
These disputes are only the tip of the iceberg of a growing sense within the IDF and the Israeli security establishment that Netanyahu is looking for a "scapegoat" to be held responsible for the disappointing results in Lebanon and the partial results in Iran. While in the Iranian front the responsible party is expected to be the Mossad, in Lebanon the blame will be placed squarely on the IDF, despite the fact that it acted according to the political echelon's directives, as it is doing now as well.
The situation on the ground grows more complex
As friction between the political and military echelons increases, the reality on the ground is becoming even more complicated. The IDF is indeed holding large areas and numerous positions in southern Lebanon, but with its hands tied it is struggling to provide full protection to northern communities and to its forces in the field. Hezbollah again exploited the ceasefire and the defensive nature of the IDF's activity to attack, in this case a Golani Brigade force in the town of Taybeh, killing Sgt. Idan Fox and wounding others.
The IDF said it would respond, but once again operated within the "permitted" areas of southern Lebanon. Fear of Trump meant that Beirut, where Hezbollah's headquarters are located, and Baalbek, where the organization's rear echelon is based, remained immune, as did the organization's leaders, whom Defense Minister Israel Katz has repeatedly threatened in recent weeks.
This static pattern of IDF activity is a proven recipe for additional casualties and growing frustration. One need only recall the IDF's final years in southern Lebanon at the end of the previous millennium to understand the danger. In fact, the reality and conditions today are even more complicated, given the number of forces, the nature of their presence on the ground, the IDF's tied hands, the weapons array facing it, and Hezbollah's motivation to fight, which stems both from its growing sense of capability and from a desire to disrupt the peace talks now taking place between Israel and Lebanon in Washington.
Under these circumstances, the IDF's activity is also failing to provide full quiet to northern communities and residents. During the security zone period, northern communities were out of range except during major operations such as Operation Accountability and Operation Grapes of Wrath, but now they face a reality of daily threats and sirens, with no solution on the horizon.
The opposite is true: Statements by the political echelon that the IDF will remain in Lebanon and conduct negotiations under fire are a sure recipe for this reality to continue in the near future as well.
On the eve of the war, Israel succeeded in separating the Lebanese and Iranian fronts, thereby reducing Iran's influence in Lebanon. From the previous ceasefire in Lebanon, announced in November 2024, until the launch of Operation Roaring Lion at the end of February, Israel acted in Lebanon as it saw fit, eliminated more than 500 Hezbollah operatives, damaged much of the terrorist organization's infrastructure, maintained a presence in southern Lebanon, and in the meantime also fought Iran in Operation Rising Lion, all without Hezbollah doing anything in response.
Israel believed it had Hezbollah in a strategic trap, but instead found itself in a trap of its own. If it does not find a way out soon, the spring and summer months will become a bloody Lebanese winter for IDF forces and Israel's northern residents.
