White House says Israel and Lebanon have extended deadline for troop withdrawal to Feb. 18

The White House said successful a connection that “the statement betwixt Lebanon and Israel, monitored by the United States, volition proceed to beryllium successful effect until February 18, 2025.” It added that the respective governments “will besides statesman negotiations for the instrumentality of Lebanese prisoners captured aft October 7, 2023.” There was nary contiguous remark from the Israeli oregon Lebanese governments. The Lebanese president’s bureau had enactment retired a connection earlier Sunday denying that determination was an extension.

Israeli forces successful confederate Lebanon connected Sunday opened occurrence connected protesters demanding their withdrawal successful enactment with a ceasefire agreement, sidesplitting astatine slightest 22 and injuring 124, Lebanese wellness officials reported.

The dormant included six women and a Lebanese service soldier, the Health Ministry said successful a statement. People were reported wounded successful astir 20 villages successful the borderline area.

Demonstrators, immoderate of them carrying Hezbollah flags, attempted to participate respective villages to protestation Israel’s nonaccomplishment to retreat from confederate Lebanon by the 60-day deadline stipulated successful a ceasefire statement that halted the Israel-Hezbollah warfare successful precocious November.

Israel has said that it needs to enactment longer due to the fact that the Lebanese service has not deployed to each areas of confederate Lebanon to guarantee that Hezbollah does not reestablish its beingness successful the area. The Lebanese service has said it cannot deploy until Israeli forces withdraw.

The Israeli service blamed Hezbollah for stirring up Sunday’s protests. It said successful a connection that its troops fired informing shots to “remove threats successful a fig of areas wherever suspects were identified approaching.” It added that a fig of suspects successful proximity to Israeli troops were apprehended and were being questioned.

Lebanese citizens cheque the demolition successful their colony caused by the Israeli aerial and crushed offensive, successful Aita al-Shaab, a Lebanese borderline colony with Israel, southbound Lebanon, Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025. (AP)

The improvement successful Lebanon comes arsenic Israel kept thousands of Palestinians from returning to their homes successful bluish Gaza connected Sunday, accusing Hamas of violating a fragile ceasefire by changing the bid of hostages it has released.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said successful a connection addressing the radical of confederate Lebanon connected Sunday that “Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity are non-negotiable, and I americium pursuing up connected this contented astatine the highest levels to guarantee your rights and dignity.” He urged them to “exercise self-restraint and spot successful the Lebanese Armed Forces.” The Lebanese army, successful a abstracted statement, said it was escorting civilians into immoderate towns successful the borderline country and called connected residents to travel subject instructions to guarantee their safety.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, whose Amal Movement enactment is allied with Hezbollah and who served arsenic an interlocutor betwixt the militant radical and the U.S. during ceasefire negotiations, said that Sunday’s bloodshed “is a wide and urgent telephone for the planetary assemblage to enactment instantly and compel Israel to retreat from occupied Lebanese territories.”

An Arabic-language spokesperson for the Israeli military, Avichay Adraee, posted connected X that Hezbollah had sent “rioters” and is “trying to vigor up the concern to screen up its concern and presumption successful Lebanon and the Arab world.” He called Sunday greeting for residents of the borderline country not to effort to instrumentality to their villages.

UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert and the caput of ngo of the UN peacekeeping unit known arsenic UNIFIL, Lt. Gen. Aroldo Lázaro, called successful a associated connection for some Israel and Lebanon to comply with their obligations nether the ceasefire agreement.

“The information is that the timelines envisaged successful the November Understanding person not been met,” the connection said. “As seen tragically this morning, conditions are not yet successful spot for the harmless instrumentality of citizens to their villages on the Blue Line.” UNIFIL said that further unit risks undermining the fragile information concern successful the country and “prospects for stableness ushered successful by the cessation of hostilities and the enactment of a authorities successful Lebanon.”

It called for the implicit withdrawal of Israeli troops, the removal of unauthorized weapons and assets southbound of the Litani River, the redeployment of the Lebanese service successful each of southbound Lebanon and ensuring the harmless and dignified instrumentality of displaced civilians connected some sides of the Blue Line.

An AP squad was stranded overnight astatine a UNIFIL basal adjacent Mays al-Jabal aft the Israeli service erected roadblocks Saturday portion they were joining a patrol by peacekeepers. The journalists reported proceeding gunshots and booming sounds Sunday greeting from the base, and peacekeepers said that dozens of protesters had gathered nearby.