Egypt Daily News – The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Friday that the withdrawal of the Israeli army from southern Lebanon will be delayed beyond the sixty-day period stipulated in the ceasefire agreement concluded between Israel and Lebanon.
In a statement issued by Netanyahu’s office, he claimed that the Israeli army’s withdrawal process is conditional on the effective deployment of the Lebanese army in southern Lebanon, and on Hezbollah’s commitment to withdraw beyond the Litani River. The statement added that the agreement requires full and precise implementation of its provisions, which has not yet been achieved by the Lebanese side.
Netanyahu indicated that “the gradual withdrawal process will continue in full coordination with the United States,” noting that Lebanon has not yet committed to fully implementing its obligations under the ceasefire agreement.
He said that the withdrawal timetable, which was supposed to end on Sunday, January 26, had been formulated from the beginning to allow the process to continue beyond the 60-day period. The Prime Minister claimed that this step comes within the framework of Israel’s security vision to ensure the stability of the situation in southern Lebanon, while insisting on implementing the agreement in an integrated manner before completing the full withdrawal.
This announcement came in the first public confirmation of the delay in withdrawal after weeks of speculation about this matter, as Hebrew media revealed earlier that the mini-ministerial council in Israel had issued instructions to the Israeli army not to withdraw from the towns it controlled in southern Lebanon within the time limit specified in Ceasefire agreement.
For its part, Hezbollah issued a statement yesterday, Thursday, in which it described any Israeli delay in withdrawal as a “flagrant violation” of the ceasefire agreement. The party called on the Lebanese authorities to intensify efforts and put pressure on the sponsors of the agreement, specifically the United States and France, to ensure full implementation of the terms of the agreement without delay.
Hezbollah confirmed that the 60-day deadline was about to expire, stressing the necessity of Israel’s complete withdrawal from Lebanese territory and the deployment of the Lebanese army in the southern regions, allowing the people to return to their villages. The statement indicated that any violation or exceeding this deadline is considered a direct infringement on Lebanese sovereignty and requires decisive action by the state by all available means guaranteed by international conventions.
They called on the Lebanese state to keep pace with the recent developments of the time period, and the statement stressed the party’s commitment to follow up the situation closely in the coming days to ensure the completion of the withdrawal in accordance with the terms of the agreement, while emphasizing the rejection of any attempts to evade or manipulate the terms of the pledges.
Under the ceasefire agreement reached last November between Israel and Lebanon, the Israeli army must withdraw from southern Lebanon within 60 days. The agreement stipulates the deployment of Lebanese military and security forces along the border and in the southern regions to ensure the full sovereignty of the Lebanese state.
Despite this, Israeli forces continued to commit violations of the ceasefire agreement, with more than 620 violations recorded since the agreement entered into force, raising concerns about full compliance with its terms before the specified time limit expires.
