Conflicting Reports as Israel Intends to Remain in Lebanon Beyond Latest Deadline

Last night it was reported in Israeli media that the US had denied the Israeli government’s request to extend the latest deadline for Israel to withdraw from Lebanon, which is February 18. Less than 24-hours later, those same outlets are quoting Israeli officials who say that the US has agreed, and Israel can stay.

Details are conflicting in different media accounts of the matter. What is clear is that Israel has no intention of leaving Lebanon by the deadline. IDF spokesman Avichai Adraee confirmed Israel will remain, and reiterated that Lebanese civilians cannot return to the occupied villages across the south “until further notice.”

The official Israeli narrative is that the troops need to stay because of Iran. Israel also announced on Wednesday that they’re sending an additional battalion to northern Israel along the border. This battalion is supposed to increase surveillance of the still-occupied south of Lebanon.

Beyond that, a lot of the details are very much unclear. Israeli Strategic Affair Minister Ron Dermer confirmed that Israel would keep five hill-top surveillance posts inside Lebanon, but didn’t offer any date. It was reported earlier today Israel was seeking to extend the deadline from February 18 to February 28. But other reports said Israel had extended the deadline all the way to the end of Ramadan.

The exact dates of the month of Ramadan depend on the sighting of the moon, but it is expected to end on March 29 or March 30, so that would tack on a whole addition month. That report appears to originate from the Saudi-based Arabian al-Hadath. That report also claims Lebanon has agreed to the continued occupation through that new date.

Lebanese officials are very quick to insist that this is not the case. President Joseph Aoun spoke on the matter Wednesday during a meeting with the Portuguese Foreign Minister insisting that Lebanon is not approving any additional extensions and that they expect Israel to withdraw by February 18.

The ceasefire which ended Israel’s war in Lebanon, was meant to see Israel withdraw troops within 60 days, which at the time was overnight January 26. Israel did not withdraw, and while the US initially “guaranteed” Israel would leave by the old deadline and President Trump was reported to have opposed an extension, the US fairly quickly endorsed the idea of pushing it back to February 18.

Now that the new date is approaching, an eerily similar process seems to be happening. People were assuring that the pullout was “on track,” even though it was getting increasingly clear, even before today, that Israel wanted to push that deadline back once again. Israeli officials seem confident that they have done so at this point, and the only questions are what the new date is, and who has actually rubber stamped the move.