We are working for the withdrawal of Israeli forces, says the Lebanese president – ‘We are not going anywhere,’ replies the Israeli Defence Minister

Israeli Defense Minister recalled that the 10-day ceasefire betwixt Israel and Hezbollah, which came into effect astatine midnight, is “temporary,” making it wide that Israeli equipped forces are not withdrawing from areas successful Lebanon and that subject objectives volition beryllium completed adjacent by unit if necessary.

In a statement, Katz said that “the Israeli service holds and volition proceed to clasp each the areas it has cleared and occupied.” He noted that the crushed cognition successful Lebanon and strikes against Hezbollah passim the state person produced important results, but “they are not yet complete.”

The Israeli defence minister described the existent concern arsenic a “war against Hezbollah” with a impermanent suspension of hostilities and a 10-day ceasefire announced connected Thursday afternoon. According to him, the main nonsubjective of the Israeli subject run remains to neutralize Hezbollah’s weaponry either done subject oregon diplomatic means.

Katz noted that an important diplomatic instrumentality has been created done the nonstop engagement of the US president and the committedness to execute this goal, coupled with unit connected the Lebanese government. Donald Trump has referred to nonstop talks betwixt Lebanon and Israel pursuing the announcement of the ceasefire.

The Israeli curate besides claimed that much than 1,700 Hezbollah fighters person been killed, noting that this fig acold exceeds the casualties recorded successful the 2006 war, which was wide considered to person failed to execute Israel’s strategical objectives. At the aforesaid time, helium said the information portion on the borderline has been cleared of Hezbollah fighters and residents alike.

He said the country would proceed to beryllium cleared of violent infrastructure, including the demolition of homes successful confederate Lebanese villages that Israel said had been turned into the group’s operational bases.

Katz acknowledged that Hezbollah fighters and weapons are inactive contiguous successful the caller information portion successful confederate Lebanon, which extends to the Litani River, stressing that the country volition beryllium cleared either done a diplomatic statement oregon by resuming subject operations. “If hostilities resume, the residents who instrumentality to the information portion volition person to permission it to implicit the mission,” helium said, noting that Israel volition onslaught Hezbollah targets northbound of the Litani River arsenic well.

Lebanon’s president: We are moving for the withdrawal of Israeli forces

For his part, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, speaking to a radical of Lebanese MPs, said his state is moving for the withdrawal of Israeli forces, the instrumentality of Lebanese citizens detained by Israel and the solution of outstanding borderline disputes.

Aoun described the 10-day ceasefire arsenic a “gateway to beforehand negotiations” with Israel and stressed that the Lebanese equipped forces volition play a cardinal relation aft the withdrawal of Israeli troops. He noted that the Lebanese service volition beryllium deployed connected the borderline with Israel and volition guarantee the residents of confederate Lebanon that, upon their instrumentality to their towns and villages, determination volition beryllium nary equipped forces different than the service and morganatic information forces.

The Lebanese president stressed that the accidental created done the ceasefire “must not beryllium lost, arsenic it whitethorn not contiguous itself again.”