Further Extensions May Be Needed If Hezbollah Continues to Violate Its Obligations

Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) National President Morton A. Klein released the following statement:

The ZOA praises President Trump for agreeing to an announced 23-day extension, to February 18, for the Israeli Defense Forces to remain in Lebanon to counter Hezbollah’s continuing threats, so that the 80,000 residents of northern Israel dispossessed by Hezbollah can eventually return to their homes. White House National Security Council Spokesman Brian Hughes noted that “a short, temporary ceasefire extension is urgently needed,” to “assure that Hezbollah does not have the ability to threaten the Lebanese people or their neighbors,” and ensure the return of Israelis who had to flee from northern Israel. We are pleased that the White House and Israeli government realized that if the IDF leaves Lebanon today, it would be disastrous, given Hezbollah’s continued entrenchment and operations in southern Lebanon, and the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF)’s complicity and failure to remove Hezbollah to north of the Litani River, in violation of UN Security Council resolution 1701 and the November 27, 2024 ceasefire deal. (See “ZOA: Israel Must NOT Leave Lebanon While Hezbollah is Still in Southern Lebanon,” Jan. 24, 2025.)

Further extensions of the IDF’s presence may very well be needed if the LAF and Hezbollah continue to violate their obligations. The ceasefire deal was not supposed to be a unilateral Israeli withdrawal.

Three weeks ago, the IDF Northern Command Commander, Major General Uri Gordin, informed the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Security Committee that since the ceasefire with Lebanon began, Hezbollah has committed hundreds of violations, and that the LAF is not only failing to enforce the ceasefire but is actively assisting Hezbollah’s operations. A similar report a week ago also included specific locations where Hezbollah is manufacturing and storing weapons, evidence of Hezbollah forces operating in areas prohibited by the ceasefire agreement, and additional infractions that have gone unaddressed—even by Israel.

Examples of Hezbollah’s continuing violations and threats to northern Israel also include the following:

• On January 24, 2025 – just two days before the deadline for Hezbollah and its weapons to be removed from southern Lebanon, the IDF announced that it found more Hezbollah underground terror tunnels and an entirely new stash of Hezbollah weaponry near Israel’s border, including a vehicle loaded with weapons under a mosque; a weapons cache inside of a mosque; and weapons caches containing numerous rockets, hundreds of mortar shells, explosives, weapons, and additional Hezbollah military equipment.
• On January 10, 2025, the IDF announced that it found in a southern Lebanon village multiple rocket launchers; hundreds of mortars, charges and RPG rifles; anti-tank firing positions; weapons hidden outdoors; an arms depot with hundreds of mortars, charges and RPGs; and a weapons depot containing dozens of shoulder-fired missiles, improvised explosive devices, and a large amount of military equipment.
• On December 31, 2024, the IDF announced that it had just discovered a large cache of Hezbollah weapons, including rocket launchers, missiles and explosives, in a hidden depot just across the border from the Israeli city of Kiryat Shmona. During another raid on nearby buildings, the IDF found numerous other weapons, including assault rifles, grenades, missiles, mines, explosive devices and other military gear.
• On December 28, 2024, the IDF announced that it discovered and destroyed a 300-foot-long underground tunnel used by Hezbollah’s Radwan Forces as a terrorist hideout and rifles, machine guns, anti-tank missiles, and observation systems inside the tunnel. In addition, in the tunnel’s vicinity, the IDF found an anti-tank missile stockpile and heavy machine gun positions aimed at IDF posts. The IDF also reported that the underground tunnel route connected to a Hezbollah command center that contained rockets used to fire at Israel, along with a large number of explosives.
• On December 25, 2024, the IDF reported that it seized more than 85,000 items of Hezbollah weaponry and equipment since entering Lebanon, in more than 30 southern Lebanese villages, where weapons caches, rocket launchers and tunnel shafts were repeatedly found in and around civilian areas. These Hezbollah weapons included 6,840 RPG rocket launchers and anti-tank missiles and launchers; 340 Russian-made Kornet anti-tank missiles and launchers; 20 vehicles; 9,000 explosives; 60 anti-aircraft missiles; 60,800 electronic devices such as phones, laptops, and communication devices; 2,250 missiles and shells; 2,700 light weapons and 2,860 other miscellaneous weapons.
• On December 15, 2024, the IDF announced that it had discovered 10,000 Hezbollah weapons across 16 districts in southern Lebanon. The Hezbollah Radwan forces stored much of the weaponry in civilian homes. A weapons storage area for Radwan inside a village civilian house included “hundreds of vests, mortars, mines… all the weapons they need.”
• On December 2, 2024 (just five days after the ceasefire began), Hezbollah launched two missiles against Har Dov.

Moreover, on November 21, 2024, just six days prior to the ceasefire agreement, the Institute for the Study of War reported that: “Hezbollah has maintained a steady rate of attacks into Israel, [] indicating that the current Israeli operations on their own are probably insufficient to achieve the stated Israeli war aims. Israeli ground operations have cleared approximately one percent of Lebanese territory at the time of this writing, and Hezbollah maintains advanced weapons systems and infrastructure across most of the country. The IDF Air Force has struck Hezbollah assets deep in Lebanon, but airstrikes alone will not destroy Hezbollah’s drone, missile, and rocket stockpiles across the country.”