The office of Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said the Israel Defence Force (IDF) would not fully withdraw on schedule but claimed this did not violate the terms of the ceasefire. The statement did not provide another date for withdrawal.
“The IDF’s withdrawal process is conditional on the Lebanese Army deploying in southern Lebanon and fully and effectively enforcing the agreement, while Hezbollah withdraws beyond the Litani River.”
Israel has been negotiating over an extension with the US, which helped to broker the ceasefire and sits on the monitoring committee charged with resolving disputes, along with France and UN peacekeeping force UNIFIL.
The Lebanese official reportedly said that thousands civilians would still return to their homes in Israeli-held areas after Sunday.
Lebanon’s new President Joseph Aoun (r) meets UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at the presidential palace in Baabda, east of Beirut (Photo: Lebanese Presidency/AFP/Getty)UNIFIL has urged Israel to “speed up its withdrawal” and criticised ongoing “destruction” by Israeli forces in border areas.
“The continued Israeli violations on land and in the air, especially in terms of blowing up houses and destroying border villages, completely contradicts what was stated in the ceasefire agreement and is considered a continuation of the violation of Lebanese sovereignty and the will of the international community,” he said last week.
Israel denies breaching the ceasefire and claims its forces are destroying Hezbollah weapons and infrastructure.
Hezbollah has also urged Israel to withdraw by Sunday, and urged the Lebanese government “to deal with it by all means and methods.”
But the source said Hezbollah would not seek a return to war “unless it is imposed on us.”
Destruction after Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon (Photo: Ramiz Dallah/Anadolu/Getty)Tens of thousands of residents of northern Israel were also displaced, and most have yet to return.
“The IDF presence and activities in south Lebanon will continue until Israel will be sure that the new Lebanese president and government will be fully compelled, obliged and capable in forcing the army to do its job (of) dismantling Hezbollah,” he said.
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Read MoreMichael Young, senior editor at the Carnegie Middle East Center based in Lebanese capital Beirut, said US pressure was necessary to force Israel to withdraw and warned its continued presence would undermine the new regime and potentially revive Hezbollah.
“The Americans are the guarantors of this ceasefire. They have installed their general (General Jasper Jeffers) at the head of the monitoring committee. So are they going to accept this?” he said. “I don’t see any justification for this extended stay in Lebanon…It’s very bad for the president. All it does is play into Hezbollah’s hands.”
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