Under the terms of the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire that took 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 on Sunday.
Israeli forces have left coastal areas of southern Lebanon, but are still present in areas further east.
But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Friday that “the ceasefire agreement has not yet been fully enforced by the Lebanese state” and so the military’s withdrawal would continue beyond the Sunday deadline.
It added that “the gradual withdrawal process will continue in full coordination with the United States”, a key ally and one of the monitors of the ceasefire.
‘Scorched earth’
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, who took office earlier this month, spoke on Saturday with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, whose government is also involved in overseeing the truce.
Aoun also said Israel must “end its successive violations, including the destruction of border villages... which would prevent the return of residents”.
The fragile ceasefire has generally held, even as the warring sides have repeatedly traded accusations of violating it.
The November 27 deal ended two months of full-scale war which had followed months of low-intensity exchanges.
Israel intensified its campaign against Hezbollah in September, launching a series of devastating blows against the group’s leadership and killing its longtime chief Hassan Nasrallah.
The group refrained from any threat to resume attacks on Israel but said the Lebanese state should use “all means necessary... to restore the land and wrest it from the clutches of the occupation”.
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