As Saturday’s hostage and prisoner release in Israel unfolded, the Lebanese army accused the Israeli military of procrastination over its expected withdrawal from the country’s south as part of a ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah.
The Lebanese army stated that there has been a delay in several stages due to the procrastination in withdrawal on the part of the Israeli enemy, which complicates the Lebanese army’s deployment. The army affirmed its readiness to complete its deployment as soon as the Israeli enemy withdraws.
Israel was supposed to withdraw all of its forces from southern Lebanon by Sunday’s deadline. However, the Israeli government announced that some of its forces would remain in southern Lebanon, citing Lebanon's failure to uphold its end of the deal.
The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office clarified that the IDF withdrawal is conditional upon the Lebanese army deploying in southern Lebanon. Since the ceasefire agreement has not been fully enforced by Lebanon, the gradual withdrawal process will continue in coordination with the United States.
According to the November ceasefire agreement, both Israeli and Hezbollah forces agreed to withdraw from southern Lebanon by January 26, marking the end of a 60-day period stipulated in the deal.
Hezbollah issued a warning that if the Israeli military remained in Lebanon past Sunday, it would be considered a brazen breach of the agreement.
The Israeli military's invasion of southern Lebanon on October 1 followed a yearlong, low-level war with Hezbollah, which had attacked Israeli-held territory on October 8, 2023, in solidarity with Hamas.
