Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon is facing delays as the country sets up roadblocks and continues military activity, raising tensions with Lebanon.
Israel 's military established roadblocks across border towns and roads in a strategic valley in southern Lebanon on Saturday, a day before the deadline for its withdrawal from the area under an agreement that ended its war with the Hezbollah militant group. The Israel i military, meanwhile, confirmed that it will not complete its withdrawal from southern Lebanon by Sunday as outlined in the agreement.
\The deal, which went into effect in late November, gave both sides 60 days to remove their forces from southern Lebanon and for the Lebanese army to move in and secure the area, along with U.N. peacekeepers. Israel says Hezbollah and the Lebanese army haven't met their obligations, while Lebanon accuses the Israeli army of hindering the Lebanese military from taking over. In a statement Saturday, the Israeli military said the agreement is progressing. But it said in some sectors, “it has been delayed and will take slightly longer.” The Lebanese military has said that they had deployed in areas following Israeli troops’ withdrawal, and in a statement Saturday accused the Israeli military of “procrastinating” in their withdrawal from other areas. \While Lebanese army soldiers are dispersed across the south’s western sector, Israeli troops remained in control of most of the southeastern sector. Members of the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, said Israeli tanks and bulldozers have unexpectedly moved and set up several roadblocks, apparently in an attempt to prevent displaced Lebanese people trying to return to their villages. In Mays al-Jabal, peacekeepers from a Nepalese battalion watched in their position along the U.N.-mandated Blue Line as an Israeli jet flew overhead following the sound of what they said was an Israeli controlled demolition of a building. There are no residents left in that town and the vast majority of the buildings seen by Associated Press journalists were destroyed or pancaked after intense Israeli shelling and airstrikes, followed by clashes during its ground invasion. The few that stood had their walls blown out and are badly damaged. The piles of rubble and debris on the road make it impossible for civilian cars to enter the town that once was home to a few thousand people. The scene is similar in neighboring towns, including Blida and Aitaroun, where almost all the structures have collapsed into mounds of rubble and no residents have returned. \The peacekeepers tried to appeal for permission to move across the roadblocks, but were not authorized to do so. An AP crew that had joined UNIFIL on patrol was stranded as a result. “There is still a lot of IDF (Israeli army) activity going on in the area,” said Maj. Dinesh Bhandari of UNIFIL’s Nepalese battalion in Mays al-Jabal overlooking the Blue Line. “We are waiting for the deconfliction and then we will support to deploy the LAF (Lebanese army) in that position.” When asked about weapons belonging to Hezbollah, Bhandari said they had found caches of weapons, munitions and mines in some structures during their patrols. Israel says it has been taking down the remaining infrastructure left by the Hezbollah militant group, which has a strong military and political presence in the south. Israel since its ground incursion into Lebanon said it also targeted a tunnel network, and has conducted large-scale demolition of buildings in a handful of border towns. Lebanese officials have complained that the Israeli military is also destroying civilian homes and infrastructure
LEBANON ISRAEL HEZBOLLAH UNIFIL SOUTHERN LEBANON WITHDRAWAL ROADBLOCKS MILITARY ACTIVITY BLUE LINE DISPLACED PEOPLE
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