Israeli troops remained in some areas of southern Lebanon on Tuesday, despite a deadline for their withdrawal as part of a ceasefire with the militant group Hezbollah.
Israel withdrew from some villages in the region, but said it was leaving forces in place in five positions that it said were necessary to protect parts of northern Israel.
The Lebanese government, which moved its own troops into areas Israel left, has called on Israel to fully implement the ceasefire deal and leave the country.
The agreement called for Israel to withdraw by late January, with Hezbollah also moving away from the border and U.N. peacekeepers deploying in the vacated buffer zone along with the Lebanese troops.
An extension pushed the deadline to Tuesday.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the military “will remain in a buffer zone in Lebanon with five control positions, and will continue to act forcefully and uncompromisingly against any Hezbollah violation.”
The ceasefire reached in late November halted more than a year of fighting in Lebanon, which had intensified in the months ahead of the ceasefire with Israeli troops conducting ground operations inside of Lebanon and repeated airstrikes targeting Hezbollah.
The militants launched a cross-border rocket campaign in October 2023, attacking northern Israel a day after Hamas militants from the Gaza Strip killed about 1,200 people and took 250 hostages in their own attack on southern Israel.
Israel’s counteroffensive against Hamas has killed more than 48,200 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians. Israel said it has killed more than 17,000 militants.
The first phase of a Gaza ceasefire is due to end at the beginning of March. So far, the ceasefire has included Hamas releasing 24 hostages and Israel freeing more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners.
The tentative second phase of the ceasefire plan calls for Hamas to release dozens of remaining hostages in exchange for more Palestinian prisoners, the drafting of a permanent truce and the withdrawal of Israeli forces. But the detailed terms of the deal have yet to be negotiated.
Hamas and Hezbollah have been designated by the United States and others as terrorist organizations.
Some information for this story was provided by The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters
