Under the terms of the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire that came into effect on November 27, the Lebanese army is to deploy alongside United Nations peacekeepers in the south as the Israeli army withdraws over a 60-day period that ends Sunday.
“There has been a delay at a number of stages as a result of the procrastination in the withdrawal from the Israeli enemy’s side,“ the army said in a statement.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Friday that the military’s withdrawal would continue beyond the Sunday deadline.
“Since the ceasefire agreement has not yet been fully enforced by the Lebanese state, the gradual withdrawal process will continue in full coordination with the United States.”
‘Be cautious’
In a telephone call with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, Lebanon’s new President Joseph Aoun spoke of the “need to oblige Israel to respect the terms of the deal in order to maintain stability in the south,“ his office said.
Macron’s office, in its summary of the conversation, said Macron had called on all parties to the Lebanon ceasefire to honour their commitments as soon as possible.
Lebanese state news agency NNA reported that some people displaced from border areas had received international calls, purportedly from an Israeli military spokesperson, warning them not to return home.
A Lebanese government source told AFP that “caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati contacted the new US administration, warned of the gravity of Israel’s attempt to circumvent the implementation of the ceasefire, and stressed the need to respect deadlines”.
‘Flagrant violation’
Israel intensified its campaign against Hezbollah in September, launching a series of devastating blows against the group’s leadership that saw its longtime chief Hassan Nasrallah killed in an air strike in Beirut.
It said the Lebanese state should use “all means necessary... to restore the land and wrest it from the clutches of the occupation”.
The UN peacekeeping force has reported Israeli violations of the terms of the ceasefire.
Guterres said peacekeepers had also found more than 100 weapons caches belonging “to Hezbollah or other armed groups”.
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