CAIRO (Reuters) – Lebanese Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem said on Monday that the group would not accept any justifications to extend the period for Israeli troops’ withdrawal from southern Lebanon.
“What comes after the period given for Israel’s withdrawal? Israel has to withdraw because the 60 days are over. We do not accept any justification to extend for one moment or one day,” he said in a recorded televised address.
Israel said on Friday that its army’s withdrawal would last beyond the 60-day period stipulated in the ceasefire agreement with the Lebanese group, saying the terms of the deal had not been fully enforced by the Lebanese state.
The U.S. said on Sunday the agreement between Lebanon and Israel would remain in effect until Feb. 18, an extension to the Jan. 26 deadline previously agreed.
Qassem said in his speech that the group received information that Washington initially proposed to Lebanese officials to extend the deal to Feb. 28, which he said they rejected.
Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said during a meeting with U.S. Ambassador Lisa Johnson that the country accepted adhering to the ceasefire agreement with Israel until Feb. 18.
Mikati said that requires pressure to end the Israeli “aggression and repeated violations” and to secure Israel’s complete withdrawal from the occupied territories in the south, in return, his office said in a statement on Monday.
“Nobody in Lebanon can accept the extension (of Israeli troops withdrawal) for one moment. Israel must get out,” Qassem said.
“Any repercussions of the withdrawal’s delay will be the responsibility of the U.N., the U.S., France and the Israeli entity,” he added.
He also said the “resistance” has the right to act in what it deems appropriate in response to the “occupation”.
Israeli forces killed at least 24 people and wounded at least 141 others in southern Lebanon on Sunday and Monday, the Lebanese health ministry said, as thousands of people tried to return to their homes in the area in defiance of Israeli military orders.
On the Lebanese cabinet formation, Hezbollah’s chief said things were going well with the country prime minister and president, adding that the “complications” of forming the cabinet were not because of the group.
In early January, lawmakers elected army chief Joseph Aoun as head of state, filling the vacant presidency with a general who has U.S. approval and showing the diminished sway of the Iran-backed group after its devastating war with Israel.
Government formation discussions are often protracted in Lebanon, due to bartering among its sectarian factions over cabinet positions.
(Reporting by Jaidaa Taha and Laila Bassam; Editing by Rod Nickel)
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