https://arab.news/ynt5f
- Under the agreement, Hezbollah is supposed to move its fighters, weapons and infrastructure away
- Lebanese army soldiers and UN peacekeepers are to be the sole armed presence in southern Lebanon
Israel’s defense chief warned Sunday that the truce that ended more than a year of fighting with Lebanon’s Hezbollah is at risk.
During the first phase of the ceasefire, Hezbollah is supposed to move its fighters, weapons and infrastructure away from southern Lebanon north of the Litani River, while Israeli troops that invaded southern Lebanon need to withdraw all within 60 days.
Defense Minister Israel Katz said the agreement also requires Lebanese troops to eliminate any Hezbollah infrastructure in the buffer zone — “something that hasn’t happened yet.”
Lebanese army soldiers are to deploy in large numbers and alongside United Nations peacekeepers be the sole armed presence in southern Lebanon.
“If this condition is not met, there will be no agreement, and Israel will be forced to act on its own to ensure the safe return of the residents of (Israel’s) north to their homes,” he said.
Katz made the statement after Hezbollah’s current leader Naim Kassem warned in a televised address Saturday that its fighters could strike Israel if its troops don’t leave the south by the end of the month.
Top Hezbollah security official Wafiq Safa told a news conference Sunday that Lebanon's Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who negotiated the ceasefire deal with Washington, told Hezbollah that the government will meet with US envoy Amos Hochstein soon.
“And in light of what happens, then there will be a position,” said Safa.
Hochstein had led the shuttle diplomacy efforts to reach the fragile truce.