A senior U.S. State Department official stated on Thursday that Israel had withdrawn forces from a portion of the buffer zone it established in southern Lebanon, calling the move a “significant demonstration of good faith” toward the Lebanese government. The claim was immediately contradicted by both Israeli and Lebanese officials, who said no pullback had taken place and that Israeli troops remain in all recently occupied positions. The contradictory accounts have injected fresh uncertainty into U.S.-backed talks aimed at restoring Lebanese sovereignty over the area.

According to the U.S. official, the withdrawal was a concrete step under a proposed “pilot zone” model, under which the Lebanese Armed Forces would move into vacated areas and verifiably clear Hezbollah weapons and infrastructure. The official said the model would be repeated across southern Lebanon, enabling the return of displaced families and full restoration of Lebanese sovereignty. Washington’s framing presents the initiative as a confidence-building measure designed to break a deadlock in indirect Israeli-Lebanese negotiations that have been underway in the U.S. capital.

Israeli and Lebanese military sources, however, described a different reality on the ground. A senior Israeli defence official told Reuters that the military’s policy is clear and that it will not withdraw from the buffer zone. Lebanese military and security officials said they had recorded no Israeli pullback, and that Israeli forces continue to enforce the zone against anyone approaching it, including Lebanese army troops. Israeli media reports added to the confusion: some outlets cited officers saying no withdrawal order had been received, while others suggested a limited pullback from specific locations such as Wazzani and Ain Arab might occur soon, though no such move has materialised.

Viewed from Beirut, the episode highlights the gap between diplomatic declarations and the military status quo. Lebanese officials have long demanded a full Israeli withdrawal from all territory occupied during the war with Hezbollah, and the pilot zone proposal is seen as a potential first step. However, the talks have lost momentum, according to regional analysts, as Iran seeks to make the Lebanese file central to its own negotiations with the United States. With no verified change in Israeli deployments and no timeline for the Lebanese army to enter the buffer zone, the pilot zone initiative remains a diplomatic proposition without a foothold on the ground.