The Israeli government ordered the IDF on Thursday evening not to complete its withdrawal from southern Lebanon, contrary to the original terms of the ceasefire agreement, several Israeli media outlets reported.
The terms of the ceasefire deal had set a 60-day deadline that will expire on Sunday for the IDF to pull its troops from Lebanon.
According to the report, IDF commanders were told that Israel continues to negotiate with the new U.S. administration to receive its approval to extend the deadline by several days to weeks.
Opposition leaders Benny Gantz and Avigdor Liberman on Friday morning agreed with the reported government decision, and called for the IDF to remain in Lebanon.
“The IDF must not leave the buffer zone in Lebanon,” stated National Unity party chairman Benny Gantz. “The IDF must continue to intensify operations against any violation by Hezbollah - minor or serious. We must insist on the full implementation of the agreement by the Lebanese government.”
“We must insist on the security of the residents of the north and ensure that the threat to the northern communities is not re-created. Otherwise, we have learned nothing from October 7,” he wrote on X.
Yisrael Beytenu head Liberman charged that Lebanon had violated the agreement. “There is no real deployment of the Lebanese army along the border, and it is unable to control Hezbollah or disarm it. A withdrawal under these conditions is a serious mistake that endangers the residents of the north,” he said.
The decision not to withdraw was reportedly made during a security cabinet meeting Thursday evening, with several media outlets initially reporting that the cabinet hadn’t reached a decision.
Israel argues that the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF), which is supposed to fill the vacuum left by the retreating IDF troops, has not shown the ability to effectively destroy Hezbollah assets that are reported to it by Israel through the ceasefire enforcement mechanism.
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