The Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon-Sud will not be accomplished within the time limit, the Hebrew State continues its operations

Israel announced on Friday that the gradual withdrawal of his troops from Lebanon-South, provided for in the cease-fire agreement in force since November 27, would “continue” beyond 60 days initially provided by the agreement. At the same time, the Israeli army continued its operations in the region, justifying them by the need to eliminate the “threats” from Hezbollah. This situation forces some residents of Lebanon-South to remain far from their villages due to the persistent risks.

According to the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, “the cease-fire agreement has not been fully applied by Lebanon, the steps withdrawal process will continue in agreement with the United States”.

The agreement, which ended more than two months of open war, stipulates that the Lebanese army must deploy alongside the peacekeepers in Lebanon-South, hence the Israeli army must withdraw over a period of 60 days, until Sunday. However, the Israeli army has evacuated the entire coastal region, but still occupies areas further east.

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“The ceasefire agreement has not been fully accomplished by Lebanon, the process of withdrawn in stages will continue in agreement with the United States,” said Mr. Netanyahu’s office. The application of the agreement is supposed to be supervised by the United States and France, but it is not mentioned in the press release. Israel would have informed the Trump administration of its intention to maintain troops on Lebanese territory for at least 30 additional days, according to the CNN channel, citing an Israeli envoy to Washington. “All parties share the objective of ensuring that Hezbollah does not have the capacity to threaten the Lebanese people or its neighbors. To achieve these objectives, a short and temporary extension of the ceasefire is necessary, “said Brian Hughes, spokesperson for the National Security Council quoted by Reuters on Friday evening. On January 18, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun had claimed the Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon-Sud “within the fixed deadlines” by the agreement. The Lebanese authorities did not immediately react to the announcement of the Hebrew state.

Back of the inhabitants impossible

While the inhabitants of certain localities in Lebanon-South are impatient and wish to return to their villages, the authorities ask them to wait. In a statement released on Friday evening, the army called on “the inhabitants not to approach the regions from which the Israeli enemy withdrew and to comply with the directives of military units”. Also, a military source said Al-Akhbar, close to Hezbollah on a daily basis, that the inhabitants of the villages still occupied by Israel will have to wait for the Lebanese army press release scheduled by Saturday, before going to their localities.

The municipality of Bani Hayyan, in Caza de Marjeyoun, published a statement stating that Israel “contacted Moukhtars (civil servants) and presidents of municipal councils to ask them not to go to these villages before the Israeli withdrawal” , by calling the inhabitants to “refrain from any action before the publication of an official press release from the municipality”. “The Israelis returned last night and began to shoot at random,” Yahia Jaber, president of the Bani Hayyan municipal council, told L’Orient-le Jour. “The flames have devoured the houses, the smoke rises from neighboring villages. The Israelis are still there, ”he continues.

The inhabitants of Kfar Kila, they expressed an increasing impatience to return home. On a Facebook page entitled “The young people of the village of Kfar Kila”, followed by some 7,000 subscribers, the inhabitants of this village of Caza de Marjeyoun were called to go there on Sunday morning at 4 am “to celebrate the prayer of the ‘Dawn, in all dignity ”. In their call, they considered that the inhabitants “have waited too much” and “must return home”.

Incessant explosions

Meanwhile, according to information from our Mountasser Abdallah correspondent, Israeli attacks in Lebanon continue and even seem to intensify. In Caza de Marjeyoun, the Israeli army exploded to Rab El-Thalathine as well as Kfar Kila. In the morning, in Caza de Bint Jbeil, she continued her progression towards the surroundings of Aïtaroun, where she burned many homes. Later during the day, a Husseiniyé, a place of Shiite cult, was burnt down by the Israelis in the village of Yaroun, in Caza de Bint Jbeil. In the afternoon, Israeli soldiers continued to progress in the locality of Maroun El-Ras and mitraillet gusts were fired to the surroundings of the village. In the evening, the Israeli army cut the main road connecting Aïtaroun to the city of Bint Jbeil, as well as the road leading to Wadi Slushi, Baraachit and Kounine, in Caza de Bint Jbeil.

In Caza de Hasbaya, an Israeli drone targeted the locality of Sadana in the early evening, located between Chebaa and Kfarchouba, while Israeli planes flew over the sector. An Israeli drone also dropped three bombs in the El-Arid district, near the village of Yohmor, in Caza de Nabatiyé, north of the Litani. At the same time, the Lebanese army continued its deployment and it entered two localities in Caza de Tyr, Chihine and Jibbein, where it was demining unploded ammunition. In a statement published in the evening, she confirmed that she was deployed in Chihine and Jibbein, in coordination with the cease-fire surveillance commission and the Finul.

“Eliminate threats”

The Israeli army has communicated twice on the situation in Lebanon on Friday via its social networks. Its Arabic-speaking spokesperson indicated on the X platform that “Israeli forces, under the direction of the North Command, led strikes in Lebanon in recent days to neutralize the last threats and strike the armament deposits as well as the Hezbollah surveillance centers ”. Avichay Adraee insisted that the Israeli army “respects the conditions of the ceasefire” and “continues to monitor Hezbollah’s attempts to redeploy in Lebanon-South”.

On its own X account, the Israeli army said it has located what it describes as “a vehicle loaded with arms and hidden under a mosque” in Lebanon-South, without specifying the exact location. She also claimed to have found “a cache of weapons inside a mosque” containing “hundreds of mortar shells, explosives, rockets, weapons and equipment belonging to Hezbollah”. “We will continue our efforts to eliminate threats to Lebanon-Sud, while respecting the cease-fire agreements between Israel and Lebanon,” said the Israeli army.

Hezbollah said Thursday that if Israel did not respect the deadline on Sunday, “it would be a blatant violation of the agreement”. He added that the Lebanese state should then act “by all means” to enforce the text, but had not threatened to resume its attacks against Israel.