Israel should occupy parts of southern Lebanon after the deadline for the complete decay of military withdrawal on Sunday, the Israeli government is understood in a statement on Friday, in the midst of Israeli concern that Hezbollah remains active there and doubts about it The ability of the Lebanese army to arrive on the repeat of the militia.
Under conditions a A truce between Israel and Hezbollah at the end of NovemberIsraeli troops were to be withdrawn within 60 days from the Lebanon area, which recently pulled out from the group control. Hezbollah also had to withdraw from the region, allowing the Lebanese army to confirm its control over the area in which Hezbollah, Shiite force and political movement supported by Iran, had long dominated.
Less than two days before the deadline, the Benjamin Netanyahua Office, the Israeli Prime Minister, announced that the withdrawal of Israel depends on the Lebanese army that confirmed complete control over the area, adding that the time line was flexible and implies that the Israeli troops will remain in Lebanon outside cross section.
“Since the fire interruption agreement has not yet been fully implemented by Lebanon, the gradual retreat procedure will continue in complete cooperation with the United States,” the Prime Minister’s statement said in a statement.
He asked for clarification, the Prime Minister’s office refused to say whether it would mean that Israeli troops would definitely stay in Lebanon after the deadline. But Israeli leaders told American and French mediators to want to keep some soldiers in southern Lebanon after Sunday, according to three officials who met negotiations.
The Lebanese government was not the immediate response. In a short message, Hezbollah’s media office said he was waiting for the reaction of countries that oversee the truce, the United States and France. In a long statement published on Thursday, Hezbollah said any “violation” of the agreement would not be tolerated, because it would be “a sharp violation of the agreement, an attack on the Lebanese sovereignty and the beginning of the new chapter of occupation.”
Hezbollah official officials did not respond to accusations that Hezbollah failed to fulfill his obligations and that the Lebanese army had not yet taken control of the territory in question. His media relations office said the group “dedicated” to the terms of the interruption agreement, but will not go into further details.
Hezbollah called on the Lebanese government and international monitors not to allow “any excuses or excuses for the extension of the occupation”, but did not say what should be done if the Israeli troops remain.
After two months mostly without conflict, despite occasional violationsThe spectrum of restored combat weavers, even if Hezbollah, was beaten and exhausted, no longer represents the same threat to Israel as at the beginning of the war almost 16 months ago.
If the Israeli troops remain beyond the weekend without Lebanon’s blessing, Hezbollah will have to choose between accepting the status quo and the loss of face – or continuing the battle and risk of a great Israeli counterattack, which would further harm its decimated ranks and Lebanese civilian infrastructure. If he is fighting again, Israeli Defense Minister, Israel Katz, warned that Israeli strikes would no longer distinguish Hezbollah and the Lebanese state.
“It’s a serious dilemma for Hezbollah,” said Nicholas Blanford, an analyst based in Beirut for the Atlantic Council, the US research group. “They are damned if they resist and damn if they do not.
Since November, Israel has switched more than 100 military plants and villages to the Lebanese authorities, but still occupies approximately 70 percent of the area that captured after falling into Lebanon last fall, according to Andrea Tenenta, spokeswoman for Unifr, Mirova United Nations Sail in southern Lebanon.
Israeli officials say that the Lebanese army has yet to signal their willingness to fill the void in these areas, all that are south of the Litani River. Mr. Tenenta said that the Lebanese army was ready for it, but he could not enter the places that the Israeli army had yet to leave.
Asked for comment, the Lebanese army referred to a public statement, saying that “she maintains a willingness to complete her deployment in the area south of the Litani River immediately after the Israeli enemy withdraws from her.”
In recent days, the Israeli troops have not been prepared for complete evacuation, according to an official and an Israeli military officer who also spoke about the state of anonymity to speak more freely.
The deadline represented the early clutch for President Trump, who strongly supports Israel, but advocated the promise of peace for Lebanon.
It is also a test for new Lebanon leaders. President Joseph Aoun and the prime minister-dose Nawaf SalamBoth selected this month, it needs a quiet environment for the renovation of Lebanon after years of war, political chaos and economic disasters.
The new Lebanese leadership “is yet to be adequately shown that a confident leader in Hezbollah management can be a weakness that, of course, Israel will continue to use as a justification for the deadline,” said Sanam Vakil, Director, Director, Director of the Middle East Program in Chatham House , a London group to explore foreign affairs.
The current conflict began after Hezbollah’s ally Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages. The next day, Hezbollah started shooting rockets on Israeli military positions in solidarity with Hamas, and Israel shot back, which led to daily exchanges that displaced hundreds of thousands of thousands Israeli and Lebanese civilians and damaged cities on or page borders.
Fighting escalated last summer, after a rocket from Lebanon killed A group of children and teenagers in the Israeli city. Israel killed Most Hezbollah’s best leadership, It increased sharply His bombing of the Hezbollah stronghold and then launched invasion of Earth to southern Lebanon.
Israeli offensive destroyed whole fourth, displaced More than one million people have killed several thousand, including many civilians.
The war also led to a direct confrontation Between Israel and Iran, Hezbollah’s main supporter.
Called and distracted, Hezbollah and Iran were powerless to prevent the collapse of a third member of their alliance, the Syrian government. President Bashar al-Assad from Syria was demolished by the rebels in December, making Iran almost impossible to send a weapon to Hezbollah through the Syrian territory. In Lebanon, Hezbollah’s strength was diminishedwhich led to Mr. Aoun’s increase in Mr. Salam, who both promised to renew the cohesion and authority of the Lebanese state.
Israeli leaders privately say that the stronger Libanon government is in the interest of Israel, because it could further suppress the influence of Hezbollah, which opposes Israel’s existence. Hezbollah was Founded in the 1980sPartly in response to the previous Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon, which lasted until 2000. Militia’s weapons gave a great impact on the Lebanese affairs, and some compared it to the state in the country. Now the group has been on the weakest EBB in decades.
But Israel is ready to stay in Lebanon, recessing the authority of the new Lebanese leadership, and its officials claimed that Hezbollah continues to retain resources and ambition to represent the threat of Israeli villages along the border.
In recent weeks, the Lebanese army has been deployed to the main cities and villages in southern Lebanon, mainly in places near the Mediterranean Sea, in the southwest of the country. She also arranged specialized units for the removal of rubble, disposal of an unexploded rulebook and reconstruct the roads that were destroyed. Army officials say they have been in coordination with the International Committee that controls the fire.
However, Lebanese soldiers were just to take over the border areas further east, with the exception of the area around Khia, a city in southeast Lebanon, which was a place of fierce fighting during the war.
The Israeli military officer, speaking of the state of anonymity to speak more freely, said that the Israeli army did not try to dismantle about half a dozen of military bases built in recent months along the narrow lane, less than a mile, north of the Israel-Libanon border.
The expectation among the soldiers in the front, the clerk said, it was that he would remain in place in the foreseeable future to prevent Hezbollah’s return there.
Dayana Iwaz contribute to the reporting of Beirut, Lebanon; Johnatan Reiss from Tel Aviv; and Christina Goldbaum from Damascus, Syria.
