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BAABDA, Lebanon: Lebanese President Joseph Aoun meets Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Abdullah Al-Yahya at the presidential palace east of Beirut, on Jan 24, 2025. - AFP
BAABDA, Lebanon: Lebanese President Joseph Aoun meets Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Abdullah Al-Yahya at the presidential palace east of Beirut, on Jan 24, 2025. - AFP

Lebanon slams Zionist refusal to withdraw troops

BEIRUT: The Lebanese army said on Saturday it was ready to deploy its forces in the country’s south, accusing the Zionist entity of “procrastination” in its withdrawal under a ceasefire, a day before the pullout deadline. Under the terms of the Zionist-Hezbollah ceasefire that came into effect on Nov 27, the Lebanese army is to deploy alongside United Nations peacekeepers in the south as the Zionist army withdraws over a 60-day period that ends Sunday.

Hezbollah is to pull back its forces north of the Litani River — about 30 km from the Zionist border — and dismantle any remaining military infrastructure in the south. “There has been a delay at a number of stages as a result of the procrastination in the withdrawal from the (Zionist) enemy’s side,” the army said in a statement. It said it was “ready to continue its deployment as soon as the (Zionist) enemy withdraws”.

Zionist Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Friday that the military’s withdrawal would continue beyond the Sunday deadline. “The withdrawal process is conditional upon the Lebanese army deploying in southern Lebanon and fully and effectively enforcing the agreement, with Hezbollah withdrawing beyond the Litani River,” a statement from Netanyahu’s office said.

“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.” Ceasefire mediators the United States and France have helped monitor its implementation. The accusation from the Lebanese army comes after UN chief Antonio Guterres called on Jan 17 for the Zionist entity to end its “occupation” of the south.

In a telephone call with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, Lebanon’s new President Joseph Aoun spoke of the “need to oblige (the Zionist entity) to respect the terms of the deal in order to maintain stability in the south,” his office said. Aoun said last week that the Zionist entity must “withdraw from occupied territories in the south within the deadline set by the agreement reached on November 27”.

Lebanon’s army urged people to “be cautious in heading back to the southern border areas, due to the presence of mines and suspicious objects left behind” by Zionist forces. Lebanese state news agency NNA reported that some people displaced from border areas had received international calls, purportedly from a Zionist military spokesperson, warning them not to return home.

It said several border villages had been sealed off by the Zionist army while troops carried out demolitions. It reported one resident wounded by Zionist fire. A Lebanese government source told AFP that “caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati contacted the new US administration, warned of the gravity of the Zionist entity’s attempt to circumvent the implementation of the ceasefire, and stressed the need to respect deadlines”. A Lebanese military source said Zionist forces had “completed their withdrawal from the western sector” of the south in early January, but “have not completed their withdrawal from the eastern sector as their withdrawal from the middle sector was delayed”.

Hezbollah warned on Thursday that “any violation of the 60-day deadline will be considered a flagrant violation of (the ceasefire) agreement, an infringement on Lebanese sovereignty and the occupation entering a new chapter”. It said the Lebanese state should use “all means necessary... to restore the land and wrest it from the clutches of the occupation”.

A committee composed of Zionist, Lebanese, French and US delegates and a representative of UN peacekeeping force UNIFIL is tasked with ensuring any ceasefire violations are identified and dealt with. The UN peacekeeping force has reported Zionist violations of the terms of the ceasefire. Guterres said peacekeepers had also found more than 100 weapons caches belonging “to Hezbollah or other armed groups”. – AFP

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