The Albany Gazette - Israel says Lebanon troop pullout 'will continue' beyond 60-day deadline

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said the ceasefire agreement had been drafted "with the understanding that the withdrawal process might extend beyond the 60-day period".

The comment comes despite earlier calls from UN peacekeepers and French President Emmanuel Macron for "accelerated" implementation of the deal.

"The withdrawal process is conditional upon the Lebanese army deploying in southern Lebanon and fully and effectively enforcing the agreement, with Hezbollah withdrawing beyond the Litani River," a statement from Netanyahu's office said, ahead of the Sunday deadline.

"Since the ceasefire agreement has not yet been fully enforced by the Lebanese state, the gradual withdrawal process will continue in full coordination with the United States."

Under the terms of the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire, the Lebanese army is to deploy alongside United Nations peacekeepers in the south as the Israeli army withdraws over a 60-day period.

Hezbollah is to pull back its forces north of the Litani River -- about 30 kilometres (20 miles) from the border -- and dismantle any remaining military infrastructure in the south.

The Israeli military on Friday also said that in the past days it had "conducted strikes to remove threats and to dismantle weapons storage facilities and active observation posts" used by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.

It said soldiers "remain deployed in southern Lebanon... and will operate against any threat" posed to the military and Israel.

The fragile truce, which took effect on November 27 after two months of full-blown war between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah, has been marked by accusations of violations from both sides.

Hezbollah began a low-intensity exchange of fire in the wake of the October 7, 2023 attack by its Palestinian ally Hamas on Israel that triggered the war in Gaza.

Israel escalated its campaign against Hezbollah in September, launching a series of devastating blows against the group's leadership structure that saw its longtime chief Hassan Nasrallah killed in an air strike on Beirut that month.

- Hezbollah warning -

Hezbollah on Thursday said that "any violation of the 60-day deadline will be considered a flagrant violation of (ceasefire) agreement, an infringement on Lebanese sovereignty and the occupation entering a new chapter".

This would require the Lebanese state to act using "all means necessary... to restore the land and wrest it from the clutches of the occupation", Hezbollah said in a statement.

A committee composed of Israeli, Lebanese, French and US delegates and a representative of UN peacekeeping force UNIFIL is tasked with ensuring any ceasefire violations are identified and dealt with.

The UN peacekeeping force has reported Israeli violations of the ceasefire terms.

On January 17, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for Israel to end its military operations and "occupation" in the south. He also said peacekeepers had found more than 100 weapons caches belonging "to Hezbollah or other armed groups".

Last Saturday Lebanon's new President Joseph Aoun said it was necessary for "Israeli forces to withdraw from occupied territories in the south within the deadline set by the agreement reached on November 27".

More than 4,000 people died in Lebanon since the cross-border hostilities began in October 2023, while over 130 died on the Israeli side.

(W.Walker--TAG)