IDF Colonel Warns Israel Against Premature Withdrawal From Gaza and Lebanon

Reserve Col. Oren Zini says Israel’s recent operational successes against Hamas and Hezbollah will mean little if a diplomatic agreement forces troops to leave their current positions before their missions are complete.

“

In our current reality, the security forces, and certainly the Shin Bet, are doing an incredible job.

In an interview with 103FM, the former commander of the Tze'elim Training Base praised the Shin Bet and other security forces for what he described as exceptional intelligence and operational capabilities in both the south and the north. He highlighted targeted killings and the arrest of a figure identified as “the head of Hamas’s Shin Bet.”

Zini said a policy shift now allows Israeli forces to act in areas that were previously considered beyond reach. Operations that might have sounded like science fiction several years ago have enabled the IDF to penetrate Hamas and Hezbollah strongholds, he said, describing the pressure on both groups as coming from within.

“

The IDF has penetrated the enemy's most complex strongholds, against both Hamas and Hezbollah, in a way that is suffocating them from within. In my view, this deserves immense credit.

But tactical achievements alone, he warned, cannot replace continued control of the areas where Israeli forces are operating. “If we do not maintain our hold in these areas, the enemy will escape with its forces and munitions, and we won't be taken seriously,” he said. A premature withdrawal, in his view, would give opponents an opportunity to regroup and reposition weapons and fighters.

“

If we do not maintain our hold in these areas, the enemy will escape with its forces and munitions, and we won't be taken seriously.

Zini pointed to Israel’s withdrawal from the southern Lebanon security zone in 2000 as a precedent. He called the move under then-Prime Minister Ehud Barak “one big retreat,” saying equipment and weapons were left behind and the pullout happened abruptly. Israel later paid a heavy price, he said, arguing that Hezbollah’s entrenchment near the northern border showed the danger of giving up control. He added that the area had come close to facing an October 7-style scenario as well.

“

We saw the price the State of Israel paid, and we were just one minute away from an October 7 scenario on the northern border as well.