Under the November 27 Israel-Lebanon ceasefire, Israel is to withdraw all of its troops from southern Lebanon within 60 days. Today, however, officials said Israel may miss that deadline, evidenced by how few troops have left Lebanon so far.
These statements to the Israeli press shift the blame for the slow pullout to the Lebanese military, saying it is deploying into southern Lebanon too slowly. Per the ceasefire, Lebanon also has 60 days to put troops in the south, which, in contradiction to Israel, the US believes will be accomplished in 50 days.
Lebanese PM Najib Mikati has called on the US and France, as guarantors of the ceasefire, to do something to speed up the Israeli pullout, saying that they “need to put an end to this Israeli procrastination.”
Mikati isn’t the only one concerned about the sluggish situation. The UNIFIL peacekeepers issued a statement calling for an accelerated Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon. They said they want to see accelerated progress in both Israel leaving and Lebanese military forces arriving in the south.
Israel’s repeated and ongoing violations of the ceasefire are undoubtedly a big reason as to why the Lebanese people want Israel out soon. On Sunday Israeli forces blew up several homes in Hanin, along with attacks on other towns and villages across the south. At least 286 Israeli ceasefire violations have occurred since the ceasefire began, killing no less than 30 people.
Overnight, Israel also carried out an airstrike on the village of Taybeh in southern Lebanon, killing two people and wounding another. This strike took place near the local public school. However, the highest profile violations were probably those in the southern border town of Naqoura.
In Naqoura, Israeli troops entered the town and raised an Israeli flag at the entrance, even though it is plainly on the Lebanese side of the border. Days earlier, Israeli artillery fire had destroyed a number of civilian homes in the town, as it has in so many places where fire was supposed to be ceased.
UNIFIL’s statement on the withdrawal acceleration today reiterated a call for all sides to stop violating the ceasefire. In general, the meaningful violations have come from the Israeli side, though Israel has claimed the presence of cars in southern Lebanon is a violation in and of itself and justifies IDF fire.
Israel has also reiterated that residents must not attempt to return home to southern villages along the border from Mansouri to Sheeba. Those villages are not directly on the border, but a few kilometers north. Mansouri, for instance, is several kilometers north of Naqoura, which sits more directly alongside the Blue Line between the two nations.
They will remain and will expand even beyond. The whole ceasefire was a trap.
All the cease fires with Israel are traps for either Israel to regroup and get more stuff from the USA or for Israel to simply break the cease fire with no worry of anyone stopping them.
More fundamentally, you should never sign a ceasefire or truce when you’re as clearly winning as Hizbollah was just weeks ago: it only helps the enemy to reinforce and reorganize, it’s always at your disadvantage. This is most basic military science.
Sound logic!
Just read Napoleon’s memoirs… he once comitted such error and lamented it thereafter. I believe Clausewitz also discusses the matter.
Hezbollah never sign the so called ceasefire…! Lebanese government did. Hezbollah appears to be complying because they are also a political entity…!
I’m not saying that Hizbollah was the betrayer, they were betrayed into that Lebanon-Israel false truce, they were also betrayed in Syria.
Even though every sentient being knows this, it really makes no difference as long as Israel's sugar daddy keeps the sugar flowing and keeps that umbrella over their heads.
Shorter: 1) nothing has changed and 2) we're all fucked.
Sugar daddy may become impoverished soon[TM], at least according to most doomsayers cheering BRICS, de-dolarization and what-not. More seriously there are serious concerns about the overall stability of the USA (and by extension its empire): the last years alone have been nightmarish and much of this is older, coming from the Trump Jr. admin and its megalomaniac approach to geopolitics (the man was a chump but was surrounded by supervillains).
That alone won’t improve things (China or Russia are not much better and they’re also facing crises) but to me the interesting part is that the Western proletariat is a very mature one and thus, I expect that as the crisis deepens and sends shockwaves, and as the gerontocratic boomer generation dies out (give them just a few years), things should get interesting. It’s prophesized in the unholy books of Marxism and other occult sciences.
Israeli colonists will need to con more money from their American herd.
Beasts of burden, lol… Yet, we love them.
Still some neocons around?!…
;-
Speaking only for myself, I despise every one of them.
Hamas and the Palestinians are paying dearly and this threat of damnation will not bring Hamas officials to negotiations. The Palestinians understand Washington's intent to genocide across pan Arabia.
Ceasefire discussions are meaningless and deceptive from the US-Israeli perspective.
What they take, don’t give back. Pestilent.
Honestly, is there any point in reporting anything that emanates from the mouthpieces for the Israeli government, either in TelAviv or in DC?
Both sources have absolutely nothing to offer beyond self-serving propaganda and lies.
Gafla, the distraction.