The cease-fire agreement between Israel and Lebanon has been extended until February 18,the White House announced on Sunday night, minutes before midnight. The U.S. announcement came as the IDF had not yet withdrawn from southern Lebanon, and in the shadow of the riots there Sunday, in which crowds of Lebanese people rioted, most of them at the behest of Hezbollah. The IDF fired at them from a distance and, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, 22 people were killed.
According to the White House announcement, which states that the IDF will be required to withdraw from Lebanon in only about three weeks, Israel and the U.S. will also begin negotiations for the return of Lebanese terrorists captured during the IDF's ground operations in southern Lebanon. The Lebanese prime minister confirmed that his country would abide by the extended cease-fire, adding that he had forwarded the request for the release of the Lebanese detained by the IDF to Beirut.
However, the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar, which serves as Hezbollah's mouthpiece, reported Monday that the terrorist organization rejects the agreements reached by Israel, Lebanon and the U.S. Official sources told the newspaper that Hezbollah is not willing to enter into any new negotiations, and that the mediators must force the "enemy" to implement the agreement.
"What happened yesterday will continue today with additional displaced people," it said. "The people will not wait for approval. This could be a turning point in the conflict, and more people could die today. The people's decision is to continue." It also said that the incidents captured on video Sunday "confirm" the need for Hezbollah south of the Litani, as the U.S. "does not want the Lebanese army to hold the south - otherwise it would put pressure on the enemy.""
Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump's envoy to the Middle East, also addressed the extension of the cease-fire Sunday night. "We announced the extension of the cease-fire. The Israeli government was wonderful. They are a wonderful partner. They did a pretty good job in Lebanon." An Israeli political source said, "We are in constant dialogue with the Americans, and we explain to them the security importance to Israel of Lebanon's full implementation of the agreement."
Defense Minister Israel Katz said that Israel "will continue to firmly enforce the cease-fires in the north and south. Anyone who violates the rules or threatens IDF forces will pay the full price. We will not allow a return to the reality of October 7."
IDF troops operate in southern Lebanon
The cease-fire in southern Lebanon effectively ended on the night between Saturday and Sunday, without the IDF withdrawing from all areas. Still, in recent days, residents of southern Lebanon began to move en masse, in vehicles and on foot, toward the border villages and also to those from which the IDF had not yet fully withdrawn, precisely on the date on which the deadline was set. Within a short time, the clashes also began.
Despite calls and warnings from the Lebanese army - which is supposed to implement the cease-fire agreement in the south of the country and demonstrate control over the area - residents of southern Lebanon crossed the army's checkpoints Sunday morning with almost no resistance. The Lebanese army placed fences at the entrances to several border towns to prevent the residents from passing, but they trampled the fence and passed without any interference. The bigger problem that the residents encountered, according to publications in Lebanon, were the IDF's embankments that blocked several roads, but the residents also crossed these.
The Lebanese army, which failed to block residents of southern Lebanon from reaching the villages, changed its tone Sunday. Instead of requesting that they not approach the villages, it reported that "army units are escorting residents' entry into the towns, in light of the Israeli enemy's insistence on violating Lebanon's sovereignty, its attacks against civilians, which have resulted in deaths and injuries, and its refusal to abide by the cease-fire and withdraw from the Lebanese territories it has occupied." The army command also renewed its call for citizens "to exercise restraint and act according to the instructions of the military units."
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Lebanese civilians try to return to southern Lebanon villages
(Photo: Karamallah Daher/Reuters)
Hezbollah praised in an official statement the Lebanese who tried to return to their villages, despite the IDF's announcement that for now it would not completely withdraw from southern Lebanon. "This is a glorious day. The great resistance has proven once again that they are a people rooted in their land and clinging to every grain of soil. The sights of the returnees to the villages, with the flags of the dead and the flags of Hezbollah, embody the highest meanings of steadfastness and victory. This confirms that this people, in its steadfastness, is the most powerful weapon of the resistance," the terrorist organization said. "The international community, led by the countries sponsoring the agreement, must take responsibility for the violations and crimes of the Israeli enemy and force it to withdraw from our lands."
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Lebanese civilians were injured by IDF dispersal gunfire during riots in southern Lebanon
(Photo: Karamallah Daher/Reuters)
The IDF emphasized Sunday that the army continues to operate in southern Lebanon in accordance with the directives of the political echelon and within the framework of the cease-fire agreement between the parties. IDF forces, the army said, are deployed in several areas while maintaining frontal defense and preventing the return of enemy elements or civilians beyond the agreed line.
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A military source said Sunday that IDF forces responded with dispersal gunfire to riots in the southern villages in order to remove threats and prevent anyone from approaching the border fence area. During the operation, several suspects who approached the forces and posed a real threat were arrested, and they were taken for questioning in the field. The IDF confirmed reports that a Lebanese army soldier was injured.
"According to the agreement, the withdrawal of forces does not have to take place at the end of the 60 days, and the discussion about extending the period and the temporary location of the forces is taking place between the political echelon, the US and Lebanon," the military source clarified. The Lebanese army, the IDF said, also did not sufficiently "clean up" the areas controlled by Hezbollah, mainly in the eastern sector.