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Israel Preparing to Remain in Lebanon Past 60-Day Ceasefire
Illustrative. Smoke billows after an Israeli Air Force air strike in southern Lebanon village, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel, as seen from northern Israel, Oct. 3, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Jim Urquhar
i24 News – Israel is preparing to stay in Lebanon well past the 60-day period set by the ceasefire agreement that came into effect on November 27, Israel’s national broadcaster Kan reported Sunday.
According to Israeli sources, the Israeli military will remain for more than a month after, as the IDF believes it is essential to hold its position in a number of outposts in Lebanon to prevent Hezbollah from taking over key strategic points. Hezbollah is not respecting parts of the agreement that prohibit it from deploying in southern Lebanon. Not all of the Iran-backed Shiite terrorist group have withdrawn north of the Litani River, as stipulated by the ceasefire agreement.
Israel will wait to see who will lead the new Lebanese government to ascertain if it is possible to cooperate on security issues. “We cannot trust Hezbollah, which will strive to restore its capabilities as soon as the IDF leave Lebanon,” one of the officials said.
On Saturday evening, Kan said the Lebanese army suffered from ongoing issues in implementing terms of the agreement. While the military did deploy troops in southern Lebanon as agreed, the number of soldiers south of the Litani River is less than the 6,000 initially planned.
The army high command led by General Joseph Aoun is motivated to successfully carry out tasks entrusted to them by the US and French ceasefire oversight committee. However, Shiite commanders are reportedly significantly more lax in areas under their control. Some even go as far as to provide intelligence to Hezbollah according to Kan.
The post Israel Preparing to Remain in Lebanon Past 60-Day Ceasefire first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Kurdish-led SDF Say Five Members Killed During Attack by Islamic State in Syria
Islamic State slogans painted along the walls of the tunnel was used by Islamic State militants as an underground training camp in the hillside overlooking Mosul, Iraq, March 4, 2017. Photo: via Reuters Connect.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces said on Sunday that five of its members had been killed during an attack by Islamic State militants on a checkpoint in eastern Syria’s Deir el-Zor on July 31.
The SDF was the main fighting force allied to the United States in Syria during fighting that defeated Islamic State in 2019 after the group declared a caliphate across swathes of Syria and Iraq.
The Islamic State has been trying to stage a comeback in the Middle East, the West and Asia. Deir el-Zor city was captured by Islamic State in 2014, but the Syrian army retook it in 2017.
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Armed Groups Attack Security Force Personnel in Syria’s Sweida, Killing One, State TV Reports
People ride a motorcycle past a burned-out military vehicle, following deadly clashes between Druze fighters, Sunni Bedouin tribes, and government forces, in Syria’s predominantly Druze city of Sweida, Syria, July 25, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
Armed groups attacked personnel from Syria’s internal security forces in Sweida, killing one member and wounding others, and fired shells at several villages in the violence-hit southern province, state-run Ekhbariya TV reported on Sunday.
The report cited a security source as saying the armed groups had violated the ceasefire agreed in the predominantly Druze region, where factional bloodshed killed hundreds of people last month.
Violence in Sweida erupted on July 13 between tribal fighters and Druze factions. Government forces were sent to quell the fighting, but the bloodshed worsened, and Israel carried out strikes on Syrian troops in the name of the Druze.
The Druze are a minority offshoot of Islam with followers in Syria, Lebanon and Israel. Sweida province is predominantly Druze but is also home to Sunni tribes, and the communities have had long-standing tensions over land and other resources.
A US-brokered truce ended the fighting, which had raged in Sweida city and surrounding towns for nearly a week. Syria said it would investigate the clashes, setting up a committee to investigate the attacks.
The Sweida bloodshed last month was a major test for interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, after a wave of sectarian violence in March that killed hundreds of Alawite citizens in the coastal region.
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Netanyahu Urges Red Cross to Aid Gaza Hostages
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference, in Jerusalem, May 21, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun/Pool
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday he spoke with the International Red Cross’s regional head, Julien Lerisson, and requested his involvement in providing food and medical care to hostages held in Gaza.