Lebanon

Israel is seeking another extension of the deadline for the withdrawal of its troops from southern Lebanon, a Western diplomatic source says, a request that is likely to raise new concerns in a country with a history of Israeli occupation.

The White House said Sunday that a deal between Lebanon and Israel had been extended until February 18, as Israel missed a previous deadline to pull troops. … The deal ended Israel’s military campaign in Lebanon against Iranian-backed Hezbollah. Under the 60-day deal, the Lebanese army was to deploy alongside UN peacekeepers in the south as the Israeli army withdrew.

Top UN officials in Lebanon are calling for compliance with the ongoing ceasefire after reports that Israeli forces killed 15 people, including a Lebanese soldier, along the buffer zone with Israel, which Israel was due to withdraw from on Sunday under the agreement.

Speakers in the Security Council urged Israel today to respect its long-established ceasefire agreements with Lebanon and Syria and stay clear of the areas where United Nations peacekeeping missions are deployed to carry out their duties. 

Lebanese army chief Joseph Aoun was voted in as president in a second round of parliamentary voting Thursday, ending a more than two-year vacuum in the war-battered country.

Operations by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) north of the UN-monitored Blue Line in southern Lebanon have continued, according to the UN peacekeeping mission in the country, UNIFIL. 

Israeli forces withdrew Wednesday from a strategic town in southern Lebanon and were replaced by Lebanese troops as part of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and the militant group Hezbollah.

The Israeli military carried out air strikes in Lebanon Saturday against Hezbollah activities that it said “posed a threat,” days into a fragile ceasefire between it and the Iran-backed group. The army said it had also struck “military infrastructure” on the Syria-Lebanon border, where it accused Hezbollah of smuggling weapons in violation of the truce.

Lebanon’s parliament will convene Jan. 9 for the election of a president, state media reported Thursday, following more than two years of presidential vacuum.

The Lebanese Army said Wednesday it was sending more troops to southern Lebanon to help oversee the first hours of the new ceasefire between Hezbollah militants and the Israeli military.