JERUSALEM/BEIRUT (Reuters) – Israel said on Thursday that ceasefire terms with Hezbollah were not being implemented quickly enough and there was more work to be done, while the Iran-backed group called for pressure to ensure Israeli troops leave southern Lebanon by Monday specified in the agreement.
The deal calls for Israeli troops to withdraw from southern Lebanon, for Hezbollah to remove fighters and weapons from the area and for Lebanese troops to be deployed there – all within a 60-day deadline ending at 4am (0200 GMT) on Monday.
The agreement, brokered by the United States and France, ended more than a year of hostilities after the Gaza war. The fighting culminated in a major Israeli offensive that displaced more than 1.2 million people in Lebanon and left Hezbollah severely weakened.
“There have been positive developments where the Lebanese army and UNIFIL have taken the place of Hezbollah forces, as stated in the agreement,” Israeli government spokesman David Mencer told reporters, referring to UN peacekeeping forces in Lebanon.
“We have also made it clear that these moves have not been fast enough and that there is still a lot of work to be done,” he said, confirming that Israel wants the deal to continue.
Mencer did not directly answer questions about whether Israel had asked to extend the agreement or say whether Israeli forces would remain in Lebanon beyond Monday’s deadline.
Hezbollah said in a statement that there had been leaks that Israel was delaying its withdrawal after a 60-day period, and that any violation of the agreement would be unacceptable.
The statement said that this possibility required everyone, especially the Lebanese political forces, to increase pressure on the countries that sponsored the deal to ensure “the implementation of a full (Israeli) withdrawal and the deployment of the Lebanese army to the last centimeter of Lebanese territory and the rapid the return of people to their villages”.
Any delay beyond 60 days would mark a clear violation of the agreement, which the Lebanese state would have to deal with “by all means and methods guaranteed by international charters” to reclaim Lebanese land “from the clutches of the occupation,” Hezbollah said.
Israel has said its campaign against Hezbollah is aimed at ensuring the return home of tens of thousands of people who have been forced to flee their homes in northern Israel by Hezbollah rocket fire.
It dealt heavy blows to Hezbollah during the conflict, killing its leader Hassan Nasrallah and thousands of the group’s fighters and destroying much of its arsenal.
The group was further weakened in December when its Syrian ally Bashar al-Assad was toppled, cutting off its land supply route from Iran.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot, speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday, said Israel had ended hostilities and withdrawn its forces from Lebanon, and that the Lebanese army had gone to the locations of Hezbollah’s ammunition depots and destroyed them.
He also indicated that there is still more to be done to maintain the ceasefire. “Are we done? No. We will need more time to achieve results,” he said.
Three diplomats said Thursday that it appeared Israeli forces would still be in some parts of southern Lebanon after 60 days.
A senior Lebanese political source said President Joseph Aoun had been in contact with US and French officials to urge Israel to complete the withdrawal within the stipulated time frame.
The Lebanese government has told US mediators that Israel’s failure to withdraw in time could complicate the deployment of the Lebanese army, a blow to diplomatic efforts and the upbeat atmosphere in Lebanon since Aoun was elected president on January 9.
