Is Israel withdrawing from Lebanon ceasefire terms? , Israel attacks Lebanon
Confirming what many observers have concluded, the Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom says Israel could decide to remain in south Lebanon even after the 60-day withdrawal period specified in the ceasefire.
Failure to withdraw within 60 days would be another violation of the US and France-backed ceasefire agreement signed on November 27 between Lebanon and Israel.
Israel has already violated the agreement hundreds of times.
But what would Israel’s failure to withdraw from South Lebanon after this 60-day period mean? Here’s what you need to know.
What is happening?
Since the ceasefire, Hezbollah has stopped launching rockets into Israel and Israel has stopped continued bombardment of Beirut’s suburbs, the eastern Bekaa Valley and the south.
But Israeli troops are still in the south, blowing up and demolishing homes and other infrastructure.
They also prevented people from returning to their homes in the south, fired on Lebanese civilians and killed at least 33 Lebanese residents in the past month.
Israel is to withdraw its troops from south Lebanon within 60 days of November 27, replacing them with UNIFIL troops, followed by the deployment of the Lebanese Army.
But Israel now claims that Hezbollah’s extensive weaponry in the south and their reconstruction efforts may prompt them to “reconsider” the withdrawal timeline.
What if they don’t live up to their promises?
Nothing.
There is no mechanism to enforce the ceasefire agreement other than resumption of hostilities.
Western embassy sources told Al Jazeera that the only guarantee of implementation were US promises that Israel would abide by.
Hezbollah could apparently resume firing rockets at Israel, but it is unlikely it would want to engage again.
Hezbollah had previously responded to Israeli violations on 2 December by firing a warning rocket at a military site in the Kfarchouba hills, which landed in an open area and caused no casualties.
Israel retaliated by killing nine people in Lebanon.
What are the terms of the ceasefire?
Israel is to withdraw all its troops from South Lebanon in 60 days and Hezbollah is to move its military infrastructure north of the Litani River and the Lebanese Army is to deploy to South Lebanon.
What about all those Southerners who want to go home?
Immediately after the ceasefire agreement people left temporary shelters set up in schools across the country, where they had been living for more than two months.
Staff at a shelter that Al Jazeera visited in Sidon, southern Lebanon, said that by 10 a.m. on the day of the ceasefire, all displaced people had left to go home.
But many people have not reached home yet.
On the second day of the ceasefire, Israel’s Arabic-language military spokesman effectively declared that the entire south was a no-go zone.
Some people say that they had gone to their villages on the first day of the ceasefire but after that they were stopped from returning.
Many southerners are either in villages as close to their villages as possible or living with family in areas the Israelis have not occupied or are preventing people from leaving.
What else has happened?
On Christmas Day, Israel attacked in the Bekaa Valley between the towns of Talia and Hizin in the Baalbek region.
Acting Prime Minister Najib Mikati has called for a ceasefire monitoring committee to pressure Israel to respect the terms of the ceasefire, but this has had little effect to date.
Israel has not only violated the ceasefire by carrying out continuous attacks, but they have also penetrated deep into Lebanese territory.
On 26 December, Israeli forces advanced to Wadi al-Hujer, eight kilometers (five miles) beyond the United Nations-demarcated Blue Line that separates Lebanon from Israel.
What is UNIFIL doing about this?
UNIFIL issued a statement on 26 December, calling for a halt to “actions that jeopardize the fragile cessation of hostilities”.
It urged the “timely withdrawal” of Israeli forces and the deployment of the Lebanese Armed Forces in southern Lebanon, as well as the implementation of UN Resolution 1701, which states that Hezbollah must withdraw its forces north of the Litani River and Israel Will take you below the blue line.
UNIFIL also expressed “concern at the continued destruction” by Israeli forces in residential areas, agricultural lands and road networks in southern Lebanon.
