Lebanese army urges citizens to hold off on heading south

BEIRUT 

The Lebanese army urged residents on Saturday to delay heading toward southern areas due to the presence of landmines and suspicious objects left behind by the Israeli army.

It accused Tel Aviv of stalling its withdrawal from those areas.

The deadline for the Israeli presence in southern Lebanon is set to expire early Sunday, under the terms of a ceasefire agreement between Lebanon and Israel, which stipulates the withdrawal of Israeli forces within 60 days from the start date of the agreement on Nov. 27.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office claimed on Friday, however, that the wording of the withdrawal timeline in the agreement "can be interpreted as allowing for more than 60 days."

The Lebanese army, in a statement, emphasized the importance of citizens acting responsibly and adhering to the guidance of army leadership and instructions from deployed military units to ensure their safety.

The statement explained that military units are "closely monitoring the situation, particularly regarding ongoing violations of the agreement, attacks on Lebanon's sovereignty, and the destruction of infrastructure, including the demolition and burning of homes in border villages by the Israeli enemy."

"The Lebanese army continues to implement the phased operational plan to enhance its deployment in the area south of the Litani River, as mandated by the Cabinet, starting from the first day of the ceasefire agreement's implementation, in coordination with the Quint Supervisory Committee and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL),” it added.

It highlighted delays in several stages of the plan due to Israel’s stalling its withdrawal, complicating the army’s deployment efforts while stressing that it remains ready to complete its deployment as soon as Israeli forces withdraw.

Separately, Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee issued a "new reminder" to southern Lebanon residents on Saturday, stating that "moving southward to the village lines and their surroundings is prohibited until further notice."​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Adraee posted a map of several border villages on X, warning residents against returning. He claimed that "the Israeli army does not intend to target you, and therefore, at this stage, you are prohibited from returning to your homes south of this line until further notice."

The Israeli army committed 17 violations of the ceasefire on Saturday, the final day of the 60-day withdrawal deadline from southern Lebanon.

It brought the number of Israeli breaches of the agreement since it came into effect Nov. 27 to 676, according to an Anadolu tally based on announcements from the Lebanese News Agency as of (1515GMT).

Lebanon and Israel reached a deal on Nov. 27 to end more than 14 months of fighting between the Israeli army and the Lebanese resistance group, Hezbollah, since the start of the war in the Gaza Strip which also halted under a ceasefire agreement last Sunday.

Data from the Lebanese Health Ministry indicates that since Israel’s onslaught against Lebanon began Oct. 8, 2023, at least 4,068 people have been killed, including women, children and health workers, while 16,670 have been injured.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala