The Israeli army announced, on Monday, that it will withdraw from southern Lebanon, on Tuesday, with the exception of “5 strategic points”, according to the “Times of Israel” newspaper.
A spokesman for the Israeli army, Nadaf Shoshani, said that the army “will leave small numbers of forces in 5 strategic locations in southern Lebanon after the withdrawal date on February 18,” according to “Reuters”.
The spokesman told reporters, at a press conference, “We need to stay at these points at the present time to defend the Israelis, and to ensure that the operation is completed and handed over (points) in the end to the Lebanese armed forces.”
“The extension of the implementation is in line with the ceasefire mechanism.”
Under a truce in which Washington and Paris mediated last November, the Israeli forces gave 60 days to withdraw from southern Lebanon, where it launched a land attack. This deadline later extended to February 18, but the Israeli army is calling for staying in 5 locations in southern Lebanon.
Earlier on Sunday, the Lebanese Secretary -General Naim Qassem said that the Israeli forces must withdraw from the entire Lebanese territories by the deadline set on February 18, considering that “there is no excuse” to maintain a military presence in any location in the south Lebanon.
Qasim added that any Israeli military presence on Lebanese soil after February 18 “will be considered an occupying force.” He continued: “Everyone knows how the occupation is dealt with,” without explicitly threatening that “Hezbollah” will resume attacks against Israel.
