Lebanon to extend ceasefire deal with Israel till 18 February

Ahram Online , Monday 27 Jan 2025

Lebanon said Monday it will extend the ceasefire deal with Israel until 18 February, even though the Israeli military violated a deadline to withdraw its troops and killed 22 people in the south of the country.

An Israeli military jeep and ambulances are parked on either side of an earth barricade in Borj El Mlouk on a road leading to Kfar Kila in southern Lebanon, where displaced residents are gathered in the hope of returning to their homes. AFP

The deadly violence recorded by Lebanese health officials Sunday came when residents tried to return home as Israel was scheduled to pull its troops from southern Lebanon.

Late Sunday, the US said the agreement between Lebanon and Israel would remain in effect until 18 February.

This came after Israel said Friday it would keep troops in the south beyond the 26 January deadline, set out in a US-brokered ceasefire that halted 2024's war with Hezbollah.

In a statement, the White House said: "The arrangement between Lebanon and Israel, monitored by the United States, will continue to be in effect until February 18, 2025."

Per the deal that took effect on 27 November, the Lebanese military was to deploy alongside UN peacekeepers in the south as the Israeli army withdraws over a 60-day period that ends on Sunday.

After talks with the US, Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said Monday the government would "continue implementing the ceasefire agreement until February 18, 2025."

According to Axios, this extension resulted from the US Trump administration's mediation efforts to prevent the ceasefire from collapsing.

The extension will allow another three and a half weeks for Israel's military to finish its withdrawal from southern Lebanon and for the Lebanese army to finish its deployment along the border.

On Sunday, Lebanon's Ministry of Health said the Israeli forces opened fire on "citizens who were trying to return to their villages that are still under (Israeli) occupation."

It revealed that 22 people, including six women and a soldier, were killed and 124 more wounded.

The Lebanese army also announced the soldier's death and said another had been wounded.

Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee issued a message earlier on Sunday to residents of more than 60 villages in southern Lebanon, telling them not to return.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, the former army chief who took office earlier in January, called on residents to keep a cool head and "trust the Lebanese army," which sought their safe return home.

The Lebanese army said earlier it would "continue to accompany residents" returning to the south and "protect them from Israeli attacks."

A joint statement from Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, the UN special coordinator for Lebanon, and the head of the UNIFIL peacekeeping mission acknowledged that "conditions are not yet in place for the safe return of citizens to their villages."

French President Emmanuel Macron called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamen Netanyahu on Sunday to "withdraw his forces still present in Lebanon" and stressed the importance of restoring Lebanese state authority nationwide, his office said.

Redeploying

The Israeli army announced Monday that its forces are redeploying in different areas of southern Lebanon.

It said the redeployment process is gradual and delayed in some areas to prevent Hezbollah from consolidating its presence.

The army called on the Lebanese residents to wait. The forces will inform them of the locations where a return to southern Lebanon is possible.

'Glorious day'

AFP journalists said convoys of vehicles carrying hundreds of people, some flying yellow Hezbollah flags, were trying to get to several border villages.

"We will return to our villages and the Israeli enemy will leave," even if it costs lives, said Ali Harb, a 27-year-old trying to go to Kfar Kila.

Hundreds of people gathered for a collective prayer on a main road in the border town of Bint Jbeil, followed by a march to some nearby villages.

Residents could also be seen heading on foot and by motorbikes toward the devastated border town of Mays Al-Jabal, where Israeli troops are still stationed.

Some held up portraits of former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, slain in an Israeli attack in late September, while women dressed in black carried photos of family members killed in the war.

Hezbollah shouted a "glorious day" and praised residents' "deep attachment to their land" in a statement on Sunday.

The group also called on the backers of the ceasefire agreement — who include the United States and France — to "assume their responsibilities in the face of these violations and crimes of the Israeli enemy."