Israel’s Home Front Command lifted all restrictions on public gatherings, schools and workplaces in communities along the Lebanese border on Monday morning, restoring full activity for the first time since hostilities with Hezbollah erupted. The decision, which the Israel Defense Forces said was based on a situational assessment, came as an Israeli source confirmed that talks on establishing “pilot zones” of exclusive Lebanese control — requiring an Israeli withdrawal from some areas of southern Lebanon — are scheduled for this week. A UNIFIL source noted that no attacks were recorded between Israel and Hezbollah on Sunday, the first such lull since 2 March.

Israeli political and military leaders, however, signalled that any withdrawal would be limited. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that Israeli forces would remain in a security zone inside Lebanese territory “as long as necessary to protect the cherished residents of the north,” while Defence Minister Israel Katz said troops had standing orders to act against any threat. Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem, speaking on the group’s Al-Manar television, rejected any enduring Israeli presence, stating that Israel “must leave Lebanon” and that there would be “no safe zone” for Israeli soldiers. He pledged that Hezbollah would confront any violation of Lebanese sovereignty. Lebanon’s army separately warned residents to delay returning to southern border villages, citing the danger of Israeli attacks.

The lifting of civilian restrictions reflects a tactical reassessment by Israeli commanders, yet the political-military standoff remains unresolved. A ceasefire incorporated into a US-Iranian memorandum of understanding signed the previous week has been repeatedly breached; Lebanese authorities reported that Israeli strikes on Saturday killed at least 30 people before fighting paused in the evening. Viewed from Tehran, Iranian officials have conditioned progress in nuclear negotiations with Washington on a complete halt to Israeli operations in Lebanon. In parallel, Netanyahu used a Jerusalem policy summit to vow that Iran would never acquire nuclear weapons while he remains prime minister, asserting that joint US-Israeli operations had destroyed Iran’s nuclear infrastructure and dealt severe blows to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The negotiations on pilot zones this week will test whether the ceasefire can be converted into a more durable arrangement. The gap between Israel’s insistence on maintaining a forward security presence and Hezbollah’s demand for a full withdrawal remains wide, while the US-Iran diplomatic track in Switzerland continues to treat the Lebanon file as a prerequisite for broader de-escalation. On the ground, both sides maintain high readiness, and the return of residents to devastated southern Lebanese towns remains tentative.