Israel warns Lebanon truce could collapse if Hezbollah doesn’t withdraw in south
CNNCNN — Israel warned on Sunday that the ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah could collapse if the Iran-backed group does not withdraw beyond the Litani River in southern Lebanon, one of the key stipulations of the truce. On Sunday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said: “If Hezbollah does not withdraw beyond the Litani River, there will be no agreement. Less than a week after it went into effect, the United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon, UNIFIL, said Israel had breached the ceasefire agreement “approximately 100” times. On Saturday, UNIFIL said that peacekeepers had seen a bulldozer belonging to the Israeli military “destroying a blue barrel marking the line of withdrawal between Lebanon and Israel in Labbouneh, as well as an observation tower belonging to the Lebanese Armed Forces immediately beside a UNIFIL position there.” The Israel Defense Forces’ “deliberate and direct destruction of both clearly identifiable UNIFIL property and infrastructure belonging to the Lebanese Armed Forces is a flagrant violation of resolution 1701 and international law,” UNIFIL said.