Israeli forces will remain at five “strategic” positions inside south Lebanon ahead of Tuesday’s deadline to withdraw from the country, saying this was part of last year’s US-brokered deal that ended months of war between Israel and Hizbollah.
Nadav Shoshani, an Israeli military spokesperson, described the decision to keep troops inside Lebanese territory as a “temporary” deployment at five “specific” locations that gave “vantage points” on Israeli communities over the border.
Israeli officials, including Shoshani, stated that the move had been “agreed upon” with the US-led monitoring mechanism that was established as part of the ceasefire deal reached in November between Israel and Lebanon.
It was unclear whether the purported consent for the Israeli decision was provided solely by Washington, or whether the other members of the monitoring mechanism — France, the UN and the Lebanese government — also approved.
The agreement initially called for a 60-day transition period during which Israeli forces would fully withdraw from Lebanon. The ceasefire was extended for a further three weeks in late January as that deadline also passed.
There was no immediate reaction on Monday to the Israeli decision from either Hizbollah or the Lebanese government. The Lebanese Armed Forces declined to comment.
Israel mounted a ferocious air and ground offensive against Hizbollah militants last year, after the Iran-backed movement began firing into northern Israel in the wake of Hamas’s October 7 2023 attack from Gaza.
The Israeli assault succeeded in devastating Hizbollah’s rocket and missile arsenal and assassinating much of its top leadership, including secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah. Israeli troops also invaded several kilometres into southern Lebanon, with the stated goal of pushing Hizbollah from the border region.
More than 4,000 people were killed in Lebanon, and more than 140 Israeli civilians and soldiers, during the 13 months of fighting.
Under the terms of the ceasefire, the Lebanese Armed Forces — with the support of UN peacekeepers — are meant to move in and take areas that Israeli troops vacate, and ensure that Hizbollah fighters and weaponry are removed from southern Lebanon.
The cross-border fighting between Israel and Hizbollah displaced hundreds of thousands of people from the villages of southern Lebanon, along with nearly 60,000 Israelis from border communities. The Israeli government is set to call for its civilians to return to their homes by early next month.
Despite the ceasefire, Israel has continued striking Hizbollah and other targets inside Lebanon, including on Sunday in the Bekaa Valley and near the Lebanese village of Houla, where one woman was reportedly killed by Israeli fire as she attempted to return home. An Israeli drone strike also killed a senior Hamas militant near the coastal city of Sidon on Monday.
Over the weekend, clashes broke out between Hizbollah supporters and Lebanese security forces near Beirut’s international airport, after Israel issued a warning over the arrival of Iranian flights which it alleged were carrying cash for the group. Lebanese authorities suspended all incoming Iranian air traffic amid fears that Israel would bomb the airport.
Israel’s military has said Lebanese civilians are now allowed to return to their border villages, and that it would be “monitoring and tracking” any push by Hizbollah to re-establish itself in the area.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday reiterated his view that Hizbollah “must be disarmed” after meeting US secretary of state Marco Rubio in Jerusalem.
“Israel would prefer that the Lebanese army do that job, but no one should doubt that Israel will do what it has to do to enforce the understandings of the ceasefire,” he said.
Additional reporting by Malaika Tapper in Beirut
