Israel will hold onto five strategic high points just inside Lebanon after the Feb 18 ceasefire deadline requiring it to withdraw all troops, a top Israeli government official says.
The army will redeploy but retain those five positions until Lebanon complies with ceasefire commitments, Israel’s Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, who’s one of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s closest confidants, said in a telephone interview.
Israel’s refusal to fully withdraw risks reigniting tensions with Hezbollah militants and undermining Lebanon’s newly-formed government as it attempts to establish its authority in the country.
It also comes at a delicate time for Israel, when a fragile six-week truce with Hamas faces risks.
Mr Dermer declined to say how long these positions would be maintained, but signaled Israeli troops won’t be removed in the short-term.
He said Lebanon’s obligations as part of a ceasefire deal signed in November include not only keeping Hezbollah away from Israel’s northern border but also disarming the Iran-backed militia and preventing it building back up.
In exchange, Israel agreed to move out of Lebanon by the end of a 60-day period, a deadline extended earlier this year after Israel accused Hezbollah of not cooperating.
Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun, the first to be elected in the country in more than two years, is aiming to take advantage of Hezbollah’s weakening to more decisively diminish its influence in the country.
His cabinet is drafting its mission statement and facing calls to remove a longstanding line that legitimizes Hezbollah’s fight against Israel and reaffirms that only the Lebanese state holds the right to liberate occupied territory.
Israel maintaining troops within Lebanon gives Hezbollah a basis to say the government is incapable of pushing foreign occupants out.
To be sure, US mediators’ stance on plans to maintain some military presence in Lebanon is still in formation. Lebanon’s Aoun reiterated on Feb 12 his insistence on Israel’s complete withdrawal by the set deadline, his office said in a statement.
US Deputy Presidential Special Envoy Morgan Ortagus was in Beirut and Jerusalem in recent days and said there would be no extension: “February 18th will be the date for redeployment,” she said at a news conference. She made no mention of the five points.
While in Israel, she was taken by officials to the Lebanese border and shown the positions where Israeli troops would remain.
Dermer said the US was informed of the five points in the discussions before the 60-day deadline expired, in late January. He added four of the outposts are a few hundred meters from the border and the fifth 1.5 kilometers (0.9 miles) away.
Hezbollah, one of Iran’s most powerful proxies, began shelling Israel from the north in solidarity with Hamas. Thousands of Palestinian militants crossed raided towns in southern Israel on Oct 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and abducting 250.
In the ensuing war with Israel, more than 47,000 Gazans have been killed, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. Both Hezbollah and Hamas are designated terrorist groups by the US and many other countries. BLOOMBERG
Join ST’s Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.