NAZARETH (Palestine Foundation Information Center)The Israeli Broadcasting Corporation said Israeli occupation authorities are expected to inform Washington that the Israeli army will not withdraw from southern Lebanon after the 60-day period stipulated in the ceasefire agreement that came into force on November 27.
This was because the Lebanese army does not adhere to the terms of the agreement, it claimed, adding that it is deploying in the region at a very slow pace and that Hezbollah is trying to reorganize itself there, as it claimed.
Late December, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz confirmed that the Israeli army is already planning to stay in southern Lebanon after the 60-day deadline.
It quoted army sources as saying that Israeli troops intend to stay after the lapse of the two-month deadline on January 27, if the Lebanese army shows inability to fulfill its obligations stipulated in the agreement by extending its control over the entire south.
The sources added that in this case, the Israeli forces will remain in the areas they currently control until the Lebanese army completes its deployment.
According to Haaretz, the Israeli occupation army is currently present in all Lebanese villages near the border fence and began setting infrastructure to establish military points along the northern border and intends to establish some points on the Lebanese side of the border.
On his part, the deputy head of Hezbollah’s political bureau, Mahmoud Qamati, said earlier the Israeli forces remaining in the country after the 60-day deadline will be deemed “occupying forces, and we will deal with them on this basis.”
