JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel's military says its forces will remain in five strategic locations in southern Lebanon after Tuesday's deadline for their withdrawal under a ceasefire with the Hezbollah militant group, as Lebanon’s government expressed frustration over another delay.
A separate ceasefire in Gaza was also in doubt as the region marked 500 days of Israel's war with Hamas, while Israel and the United States sent conflicting signals over whether they want the truce to continue. Talks on the ceasefire's second phase are yet to start.
Military spokesperson Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani said the five locations in Lebanon provide vantage points or are located across from communities in northern Israel, where about 60,000 Israelis are still displaced. He said the “temporary measure” was approved by the U.S.-led body monitoring the truce, which earlier was extended by three weeks.
Under the agreement, Israeli forces should withdraw from a buffer zone in southern Lebanon to be patrolled by the Lebanese army and U.N. peacekeepers. The ceasefire has held since taking effect in November.
Israel is committed to a withdrawal in “the right way, in a gradual way, and in a way that the security of our civilians is kept,” Shoshani told reporters.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun told reporters the ceasefire “must be respected,” saying “the Israeli enemy cannot be trusted.” He said Lebanese officials were working diplomatically for the withdrawal, "and I will not accept that a single Israeli remains on Lebanese territory.”
Hezbollah leader Naim Kassem said Sunday “there can be no excuses” for any delay past Tuesday.
Hezbollah began firing rockets, drones and missiles into Israel the day after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack out of Gaza ignited the war there. The Israel-Hezbollah conflict boiled over into all-out war in September as Israel carried out massive waves of airstrikes and killed most of the militant group’s senior leaders.
Earlier on Monday, an Israeli drone targeted a car in Lebanon’s southern port city of Sidon, the deepest strike inside Lebanese territory since the ceasefire took effect. Israel said it targeted Muhammad Shaheen, the head of Hamas’ operations in Lebanon. Video footage by The Associated Press showed a charred vehicle.
“Now the fear has come back to people," said Ahmed Sleim, a Sidon resident, who worried about a return to war.
Israelis held protests across the country calling for the Gaza ceasefire to be extended so that more hostages abducted in the Oct. 7 attack can be freed.
An Israeli official said four bodies are expected to be returned to Israel on Thursday. The official gave no further details and spoke on condition of anonymity because details were still being arranged. So far, no bodies have been handed over during the ceasefire's current phase. There was no immediate comment from Hamas.
This first phase ends in less than two weeks, and negotiations on the more difficult second phase — which would release more hostages and see the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza — should have started two weeks ago.
“All I care about, all I want, is for my friends to return. There were six of us living in unbearable conditions" Ohad Ben Ami, released a week and a half ago, told Israeli President Isaac Herzog. Families have wept as they described hungry loved ones barefoot or in chains.
Hamas is gradually releasing 33 hostages in this phase in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. Israeli forces have pulled back from most parts of Gaza and allowed a surge of humanitarian aid.
In the second phase, Hamas would release over 70 remaining hostages — around half believed to be dead — in exchange for more Palestinian prisoners and a lasting ceasefire.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald Trump 's administration say they are committed to the eradication of Hamas and the return of all hostages. Those goals are widely seen as incompatible.
The militant group, though weakened, remains in control of Gaza. Hamas has said it is willing to relinquish power to other Palestinians but will not accept any occupying force.
Now Trump calls for Gaza’s population of over 2 million to be permanently relocated to other countries and for the United States to take ownership of the territory. Israel welcomes the plan, while Palestinians and Arab nations have rejected it. Rights groups say its implementation would likely violate international law.
Hamas-led militants in their Oct. 7 attack killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted around 250. More than half of the hostages have been returned. Eight have been rescued in military operations.
Israel's air and ground war has killed over 48,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not say how many were combatants.
“Everything is destroyed, nothing is left in Gaza, Gaza is not fit for life,” said one resident, Mohammed Barash, reflecting on 500 days of war.
A watchdog opposed to Jewish settlements on Palestinian territory said Israel has issued a tender for the construction of nearly 1,000 additional settler homes in the occupied West Bank.
Peace Now said the 974 new housing units would allow the population of the Efrat settlement to expand by 40% and further block the development of the nearby Palestinian city of Bethlehem.
Hagit Ofran, who leads the group’s settlement monitoring, said construction can begin after the contracting process and issuing of permits, which could take another year at least.
There was no immediate Israeli government comment.
Israel has built over 100 settlements across the West Bank, ranging from hilltop outposts to fully developed communities. Over 500,000 settlers live in the West Bank, home to about 3 million Palestinians.
The settlers have Israeli citizenship. Palestinians live under military rule, with the Western-backed Palestinian Authority administering population centers.
Israel captured the West Bank, along with the Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem, in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians want them for their future state.
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Abou AlJoud reported from Beirut. Associated Press reporters Wafaa Shurafa in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, and Josef Federman in Jerusalem contributed to this report.
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