The Israeli army announced on Monday that it would keep their forces at five locations in South Lebanon after a complete withdrawal period on Tuesday. The announcement caused the fear of reviving violence in southern Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah.
After more than a year of war, two sides reached the end of the fire in late November, which depended on Israel, and by the end of January until the end of January, Hezbollah took control of South Lebanon to the Lebanese army. Hezbollah has long dominated the region, while Israel caught large parts after attacked in Lebanon in September.
At the end of January, the mediators announced a three -week extension of that agreement, giving Israel more time to complete their withdrawal. The truce was often pierced with violence by violence, citing Israeli air attack on Monday in which Hamas’s leader was killed in southern Lebanon-but had not returned to the war completely.
Now, a spectrum of a renewed conflict once again after the Israeli army announced that some troops in Lebanon would keep after February 18, potentially preventing some Lebanese civilians to return home.
“We will leave small amounts of troops arranged in five strategic points along the border in Lebanon, so we can continue to defend our residents and ensure that there is no current threat,” said Lieutenant Nadav Shoshani, a military spokesman, at a journalist advice on Monday afternoon.
Colonel Shoshani named several locations arranged along most of the 75 -kilometer limit length, including places across the border from Israeli villages that were poorly damaged during the war with Hezbollah rocket. He said Hezbollah did not live on his own side of the Agreement in November and still represented the threat of Israeli inhabitants in these areas. He refused to say how long the occupation would last. It is unclear to what extent Hezbollah has the presence in these areas.
Hezbollah’s leader, Naim Qasssem, fiercely opposed the idea that Israel was holding troops in Lebanon during a speech on Sunday. But he stopped punching to continue attacks against Israel.
“Israel must be fully withdrawn on February 18,” Mr. Qassem said. “This is an agreement.”
“Everyone knows how to deal with interest,” he warned, without giving further details.
The war between Hezbollah and Israel erupted after the Lebanese militia began to shoot Israeli military positions in solidarity with its ally Hamas, shortly after Hamas attacked Israel in October 2023.
The conflict remained largely contained for rocket and rocket blows, moving thousands on both sides of the border, until it broke out in the full frontal war and a widely Israeli bombing of the Lebanese cities in the second half of 2024.
Israel killed much of Hezbollah’s leadership at the air campaign and attacked large parts of South Lebanon, in moves that collectively displaced more than one million people in Lebanon.
Israel said that his intention was to prevent Hezbollah to represent the threat to the inhabitants of North Israel, about 60,000 forced to leave their homes for the rocket fire in Hezbollah.
Gabby Sobelman contributed to reporting.
