The IDF will stay in southern Lebanon after day 60 of the ceasefire but it’s still unclear for how long, according to sources in the defense establishment and ministers, who convened on Thursday night to discuss the situation.Sunday will mark 60 days since the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect on November 27.
The agreement drafted by US envoy Amos Hochstein dictates that the Lebanese Army will be deployed in southern Lebanon during the first 60 days, dismantling Hezbollah camps and equipment. After day 60, Israeli forces are expected to completely withdraw from Lebanese territory.
Israeli officials, however, have said the Lebanese Army is not doing the job fast enough.
“The deployment is not according to the schedule, and the work they are doing on the ground is minimal”, two Israeli officials told The Jerusalem Post.
The security cabinet met on Thursday to debate how long Israel should stay in southern Lebanon considering the Lebanese side hasn’t fulfilled its part of the agreement.
The hope, or as some officials call it, “the dream,” is that the Trump administration will allow Israel to leave a permanent military outpost in southern Lebanon near the border.
Changes in Lebanon’s political landscape
In recent weeks, as reported in the Post, Trump officials told senior Israeli officials: “We don’t want this deal to fall apart.”
Two Western diplomats told the Post that now that there is an anti-Hezbollah prime minister and president, a permanent Israeli presence will cause Hezbollah to proclaim that only it can make Israel leave, a statement that might increase the terrorist group’s political power in the country after attempts to downgrade its political influence.Israeli officials stressed that whatever the decision is, the government wants Washington to agree to it.
“The last thing we want, is the US pulling out of the mechanism that is supposed to monitor the ceasefire, which will leave the Lebanese Army by itself, in charge of dismantling Hezbollah camps, and we all know how well that can turn out to be,” one Israeli official told the Post.
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