Israeli Troops Landed on a Ridge Minutes Before the Truce Began

The Israel Defense Forces disclosed a military operation, codenamed Eagle, in which forces from a special unit landed on the Christophany Ridge a few minutes before the ceasefire came into effect. The disclosure was made on 17 April 2026.

The operation was approved by the Chief of the General Staff and commanded by the Commander of the Air Force together with the Commander of the Northern Command, the military said. The IDF added that it is on immediate alert and will continue to neutralise threats throughout the area between the border and the line defined within the framework of the ceasefire understandings.

Landing on a clock

The timing is the whole point of the disclosure. The Jerusalem Post reported the same announcement on 17 April 2026, describing an elite unit parachuted onto the ridge in southern Lebanon on Thursday night, minutes before the ceasefire began, and quoting the military's line that the operation was approved by the Chief of the General Staff and led by the Air Force and Northern Command commanders. Ground taken before a truce starts is ground a force holds when the truce is running.

Israel had said openly that it did not intend to pull back. PBS NewsHour reported that as the ten-day cessation of hostilities took effect on 17 April 2026, brokered by the United States after the first direct Israel-Lebanon talks in decades, Netanyahu stated that Israeli troops would not withdraw and would maintain a ten-kilometre security zone inside southern Lebanon.

The line the statement points at

The "line defined within the framework of the ceasefire understandings" acquired a public shape two days later. On 19 April the IDF published a map of what it called the Yellow Line, its forward defence zone, as the Times of Israel reported, showing a belt up to roughly ten kilometres deep running from the Mediterranean towards Mount Hermon, crossing the Litani River in places and taking in the Beaufort Ridge, with five Israeli divisions operating south of it.

The truce itself did not stay at ten days. It was extended repeatedly, by three weeks on 23 April and by 45 days on 15 May, with Hezbollah never a party to it; Israel retained a stated right to act in self-defence against imminent or ongoing threats.

What the disclosure leaves out

The IDF did not name the unit, say how many soldiers took part, or give the exact time of the landing relative to the ceasefire. It did not say whether the force met resistance, whether anyone was hurt on either side, or how long it intends to hold the position. It also did not explain how the ridge fits into the wider deployment, and Israel.com has not independently verified the operation.