Hezbollah demands Israeli forces complete withdrawal from Lebanon on time

The Lebanese group Hezbollah has demanded that Israeli forces complete a withdrawal from the country’s south in line with terms of the ceasefire deal agreed by the two sides, as the Israeli government said the agreement was not being implemented fast enough.

Israel and the Iran-aligned group agreed in November to a ceasefire mediated by France and the United States, bringing an end to more than a year of fighting.

Under the deal, Israeli forces were to withdraw from Lebanon and Hezbollah forces were to withdraw from southern Lebanon over a 60-day period ending on Monday.

“There have been positive movements where the Lebanese army and UNIFIL have taken the place of Hezbollah forces, as stipulated in the agreement,” Israeli government spokesmen David Mencer told reporters on Thursday, referring to United Nations peacekeepers in Lebanon.

“We’ve also made clear that these movements have not been fast enough, and there is much more work to do,” he said, affirming that Israel wanted the agreement to continue.

Mencer did not directly respond to questions about whether Israel had requested an extension of the deal or say whether Israeli forces would remain in Lebanon after the 60-day deadline.

Reporting from Beirut, Lebanon, Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr said that the Israeli ambassador to the US had said that Israel is in discussions with the administration of President Donald Trump to convince the US to extend the deadline for at least another month.

“Israeli officials are talking about staying in Lebanon, which would be in violation of the ceasefire agreement to pull out by January 26,” she said.

“Hezbollah is hinting that it’s going to resume military action. It says if Israeli soldiers remain, they will be an occupying force and there will be ‘resistance’,” Khodr noted.

“Whether those threats are serious – considering that Hezbollah has been severely weakened during Israel’s war – is open to question,” she added.

Hezbollah said on Thursday that Israel has to completely withdraw from Lebanon as the 60-day period in a ceasefire deal comes to an end and warned that any breach of the agreement would not be accepted.

“We need a total withdrawal of the Israeli army,” French President Emmanuel Macron said earlier this month, speaking alongside Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun in Beirut.

The Lebanese government has also told US mediators that Israel’s failure to withdraw on time could complicate the Lebanese army’s deployment, and this would be a blow to diplomatic efforts and the optimistic atmosphere in Lebanon since Aoun was elected president on January 9.