Jerusalem: The Israeli military is prepared to withdraw from Lebanese territory and hand over areas to the Lebanese army “within the timeline” set by a US-French-mediated ceasefire agreement, a senior Israeli security official said.
Under the ceasefire that took effect November 27, Lebanon’s military was to deploy in the south alongside United Nations peacekeepers as the Israeli army withdrew over a 60-day period, later extended until February 18.
Hezbollah was also expected to vacate its positions in the south, near the Israeli border, during that timeframe.
“We are still deployed in accordance with the US monitored agreement and we are working closely with the US to make sure that handing over responsibility to the Lebanese army will happen within the timeline,” the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in accordance with protocols, said on Thursday.
His comments came as Israeli fighter jets overnight hit what the army said were Hezbollah military sites “containing weapons and launchers, which pose a direct threat to the Israeli home front.”
Lebanese media reported that Israeli aircraft had targeted sites near the town of Yater. Warplanes were also seen flying over southern Lebanese villages and towns.
Lebanon’s parliamentary speaker Nabih Berrih said on Thursday the United States had informed him that, while Israel would withdraw on February 18, “it will remain in five locations.”
Lebanon rejected this, he said in a statement.
The Israeli official did not comment on whether the withdrawal also applied to the five locations mentioned by Berrih. The official, said however that the military withdrawal was in motion and “the next step of the agreement stipulates that we will withdraw to Blue Line handing over in orderly fashion to the Lebanese army in the area where we pull out from.”
The Israeli military, however, was continuing to monitor Hezbollah’s movements, he said, adding: “We have seen several clear incidents where Hezbollah was trying to breach the agreement such as infiltrating south in civilian clothes, trying to restore or remove munitions and also smuggling arms in the Bekka valley.”
The UN as well as Hezbollah have also accused Israel of committing violations during the ceasefire.
Hezbollah and Israel clashed for more than a year, including in two months of all-out war, before the November 27 agreement came into effect.
The Iran-backed Lebanese armed group said its hostilities with Israel were in solidarity with Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza, where Israel fought a deadly war for more than a year before international mediators brokered a fragile truce in January.
Israeli security official says military readying to withdraw from Lebanon
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Israeli security official says military readying to withdraw from Lebanon
- Hezbollah was also expected to vacate its positions in the south, near the Israeli border, during that timeframe
UN rights chief Shocked by 'unbearable' Darfur atrocities
- Mediation efforts have failed to produce a ceasefire, even after international outrage intensified last year with reports of mass killings, rape, and abductions during the RSF’s takeover of El-Fasher in Darfur
PORT SUDAN: Nearly three years of war have put the Sudanese people through “hell,” the UN’s rights chief said on Sunday, blasting the vast sums spent on advanced weaponry at the expense of humanitarian aid and the recruitment of child soldiers.
Since April 2023, Sudan has been gripped by a conflict between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces that has left tens of thousands of people dead and around 11 million displaced.
Speaking in Port Sudan during his first wartime visit, UN Human Rights commissioner Volker Turk said the population had endured “horror and hell,” calling it “despicable” that funds that “should be used to alleviate the suffering of the population” are instead spent on advanced weapons, particularly drones.
More than 21 million people are facing acute food insecurity, and two-thirds of Sudan’s population is in urgent need of humanitarian aid, according to the UN.
In addition to the world’s largest hunger and displacement crisis, Sudan is also facing “the increasing militarization of society by all parties to the conflict, including through the arming of civilians and recruitment and use of children,” Turk added.
He said he had heard testimony of “unbearable” atrocities from survivors of attacks in Darfur, and warned of similar crimes unfolding in the Kordofan region — the current epicenter of the fighting.
Testimony of these atrocities must be heard by “the commanders of this conflict and those who are arming, funding and profiting from this war,” he said.
Mediation efforts have failed to produce a ceasefire, even after international outrage intensified last year with reports of mass killings, rape, and abductions during the RSF’s takeover of El-Fasher in Darfur.
“We must ensure that the perpetrators of these horrific violations face justice regardless of the affiliation,” Turk said on Sunday, adding that repeated attacks on civilian infrastructure could constitute “war crimes.”
He called on both sides to “cease intolerable attacks against civilian objects that are indispensable to the civilian population, including markets, health facilities, schools and shelters.”
Turk again warned on Sunday that crimes similar to those seen in El-Fasher could recur in volatile Kordofan, where the RSF has advanced, besieging and attacking several key cities.
Hundreds of thousands face starvation across the region, where more than 65,000 people have been displaced since October, according to the latest UN figures.
