Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggested on Friday that Israel could not withdraw all his forces from Lebanon for a period established in his high fire with Hezbollah, and Washington seems prepared to press for an extension.
According to the agreement reached in November, it is assumed that Israel will complete its withdrawal from the country on Sunday. Hezbollah militants must go back to the north of the Litani River, and the Lebanese armed forces would patrol the cushioning zone in the south of Lebanon along with the UN Peace Forces.
Netanyahu said in a statement that the high fire “is based on the understanding that the retirement process could continue beyond 60 days.” The statement added that the Lebanese government has not yet “applied completely” the agreement, an apparent reference to the deployment of Lebanese troops.
Israeli officials have had conversations in recent days with the United States, which negotiated the agreement together with France.
The Trump administration believes that “a high extension of high fire Temporary fire is urgently needed” in Lebanon, the spokesman for the National Security Council, Brian Hughes, said in a statement on Friday.
“President Trump is committed to ensuring that Israeli citizens can return to their homes in northern Israel,” while supporting the new Lebanese government under President Michel Aoun, the statement said.
“All parties share the objective of ensuring that Hezbollah does not have the ability to threaten the Lebanese people or their neighbors,” said Hughes. He said that the United States is “pleased that IDFs have begun the withdrawal of the central regions.”
There was no immediate response to the Netanyahu statement of Lebanon or Hezbollah.
