Lebanese President Joseph Awn said on Saturday that Israel must withdraw from southern Lebanon by January 26, the deadline set for the full implementation of the ceasefire that Israel and Hezbollah agreed to last November. Hezbollah leader Naim Qasim accused Israel of hundreds of ceasefire violations. TASR informs about it according to the report of the AFP agency.
Qassim warned Israel against “testing its patience” and called on Lebanese officials to react “strongly”.
President Awn told UN Secretary-General António Guterres that it was essential that “Israeli troops withdraw from the occupied territories in the south in accordance with the deadline of the agreement reached on November 27”.
“Israel’s continued violation of the rules on the ground and in the air…blowing up houses and destroying border villages is completely contrary to what is stated in the ceasefire agreement,” the presidency said in a statement.
Israel is testing our patience, he adds
According to the agreement, Hezbollah is to stop its operations in southern Lebanon and Israel is to withdraw its troops from there and hand over control of the region to the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers within 60 days.
“We are patient with the violations to give a chance to the Lebanese state responsible for this agreement, along with international supporters, but I urge you not to test our patience,” the Hezbollah leader said in a televised speech.
After meeting with Awn and newly appointed Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, Guterres said Lebanon could begin a “new chapter of peace”. On Friday, he called on Israel to end its military operations and “occupation” in southern Lebanon.
At the same time, the UN chief said that UNIFIL peacekeeping forces in southern Lebanon had uncovered more than 100 caches of weapons, which he said belonged to “Hezbollah or other armed groups” since the ceasefire began.
French President Emmanuel Macron was also in Lebanon on Friday, according to whom it is necessary to “accelerate” the implementation of the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, writes AFP.
