Israel has withdrawn from some of the southern Lebanese territory it has occupied in its war with Hezbollah, a US State Department official said, adding that Lebanon’s armed forces should now step in, Reuters reports.
There was no immediate comment from Israel. A senior Lebanese security official said they were unaware of any withdrawal of Israeli troops from Israel’s so-called “buffer zone” in southern Lebanon.
The State Department official did not say how much territory Israel withdrew from or where exactly the pullback occurred. Israel and Lebanon have been holding US-brokered talks in Washington aimed in part at halting fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia.
