The political leadership has instructed the IDF to freeze all operations deemed "sensitive" in southern Lebanon following a request from the United States, Kan 11 News reported Friday evening.
According to the report, the directive to the IDF remains in effect until further notice, pending both the outcome of the current escalation between the United States and Iran and the ongoing negotiations between Israel and Lebanon.
The report further noted that the Americans, who have been preoccupied with the escalation against Iran in recent days, have recently expressed concern that Israel could also be dragged into the conflict.
A security source quoted in the report stated that Israel is prepared to respond to any potential Iranian attack on its territory to launch significant strikes within Iran. However, in light of the request from the White House, the IDF was instructed to wait to prevent the current conflict from expanding to Israel.
Kan 11 News also reported that the IDF is expected to begin withdrawing from pilot zones in southern Lebanon as early as next week, coinciding with additional talks between Lebanon and Israel scheduled to take place in Rome.
Israel’s Ambassador to the United States, Yechiel Leiter, will lead the Israeli delegation to the talks, alongside the team that participated in previous rounds of negotiations with Lebanese counterparts.
On Thursday, a US official said that the initial "pilot zone" in Lebanon designed to transfer territory currently held by Israeli forces back to Lebanese authority will officially begin "in a matter of days".
The official said the US “will soon begin outreach to international partners to help the Lebanese Government effectively restore sovereignty in these zones and across their country more broadly."
The initiative builds upon a 14-point framework negotiated during US-mediated discussions between Israeli and Lebanese officials in Washington in late June.
It remains to be seen whether the framework agreement will be implemented, as significant friction remains between Beirut and Jerusalem over the scope and timing of any military pullout.
According to a diplomatic source familiar with the negotiations, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has conditioned his country’s ongoing participation in bilateral talks on Israel commencing a military withdrawal from southern Lebanon.
The agreement has also been criticized by the Hezbollah terrorist organization which has refused to disarm, as stipulated in the agreement, and declared that "without Hezbollah, nothing will pass."
(Arutz Sheva-Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)