JERUSALEM: The Israeli army will not complete its withdrawal from southern Lebanon by a Monday deadline, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Friday, saying Lebanon has not yet fully enforced the ceasefire agreement.
The deal, brokered by the United States and France, ended more than a year of hostilities between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah. The fighting peaked with a major Israeli offensive that displaced more than 1.2 million people in Lebanon and left Hezbollah severely weakened.
Under the agreement, which came into effect on Nov. 27, Hezbollah weapons and fighters must be removed from areas south of the Litani river and Israeli troops should withdraw as the Lebanese military deploys into the region, all within a 60-day timeframe due to conclude on Monday at 4 a.m. (0200 GMT).
Netanyahu’s office said in a statement that the Israeli military’s withdrawal process was “contingent on the Lebanese army deploying in southern Lebanon and fully and effectively enforcing the agreement, while Hezbollah withdraws beyond the Litani.”
“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,” the statement said.
There was no immediate comment from Lebanon or Hezbollah.

LONDON: The Israeli military is building installations in the demilitarized zone between the occupied Golan Heights and Syria, satellite images published by the BBC have revealed.

Israeli forces moved into the Area of Separation agreed in the 1974 ceasefire with Syria, crossing the so-called Alpha Line following the fall of the Assad regime in December.

The satellite images, taken on Tuesday, show construction work and trucks around 600 meters inside the Area of Separation, including a track linking the site to another Israeli-administered road in the area.

Footage obtained by a drone operated by a Syrian journalist on Monday also identified excavators and bulldozers at the location.

The Israeli military told the BBC that its “forces are operating in southern Syria, within the buffer zone and at strategic points, to protect the residents of northern Israel.”

The UN Disengagement Observer Force has said Israeli construction along the Area of Separation is “a severe violation” of the 1974 ceasefire agreement.

Jeremy Binnie, Middle East specialist at defense intelligence company Janes, told the BBC: “The photo shows what appear to be four prefabricated guard posts that they will presumably crane into position in the corners, so this is somewhere they are planning to maintain at least an interim presence.”

It is not the first time that the BBC has identified Israeli forces inside the Area of Separation. Soldiers were spotted near the town of Majdal Shams, around 5.5 km from the new site, while satellite pictures taken in November found a trench being dug by Israeli personnel along the Alpha Line near the town of Jubata Al-Khashab.