US, France reportedly reassure Lebanon that Israel won't stay in south
Lebanese officials have received reassurances from U.S. and French officials that the international ceasefire monitoring committee will press Israel to stop its ceasefire violations and that the Israeli army will not stay in Lebanon after the 60-day period and might even withdraw before that, informed sources said.
“The reason behind the Israeli withdrawal decision is the presence of an international decision to pacify the southern front and the fear that the truce agreement might collapse, in addition to the fact that the Israeli government wants to commit to the new U.S. president Donald Trump’s desire to stop wars in the region prior to his inauguration,” the sources told al-Binaa newspaper in remarks published Friday.
“The Israeli government also considers that it has achieved a lot of the war goals and that it can tell the Israelis that it has restored security in the north and returned settlers to it, seeing as any collapse of the agreement and return to war would obstruct the return of settlers and displace more of them, something that Israel cannot bear,” the sources added.
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