TEHRAN - Israel's decision to prolong the occupation of Lebanon has underscored its expansionist aspirations, particularly in light of what appears to be tacit approval from the United States. 

The Israeli premier said on Friday that the regime’s army will not withdraw from southern Lebanon by the 60-day deadline set under a ceasefire agreement with the Hezbollah resistance movement.

“The IDF withdrawal is conditional upon the Lebanese army deploying in southern Lebanon. Since the ceasefire agreement has not yet been fully enforced by Lebanon, the gradual withdrawal process will continue, in full coordination with the United States,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement. 

The statement amounts to the blatant violation of the ceasefire that took effect on November 27, 2024. 

Michael Herzog, Israel’s ambassador to the United States, said on Thursday that the deadline “is not set in stone.”

PM Netanyahu says Israel will not comply with a Sunday deadline to withdraw from southern Lebanon as indications from the US suggest that the timeline may be malleable
Israel is supposed to withdraw its troops from southern Lebanon by Sunday’s deadline. They should be replaced by UNIFIL troops, followed by the Lebanese army.

Hezbollah should also move its military infrastructure north of the Litani River.

Israel and Hezbollah began exchanging cross-border fire on October 8, 2023. That was a day after Israel launched war on Gaza. The Lebanese resistance movement struck Israel's strategic and military sites with drones and missiles to express solidarity with Palestinians in the enclave. 

On September 23, 2024, Israel launched a massive bombing campaign in Lebanon and a week later sent its troops into southern Lebanon. The Israeli army has killed about 4,000 people in Lebanon since October 2023. 

Israel has consistently violated the November truce agreement, brokered by the US and France, by carrying out military operations in Lebanon. 

Hezbollah warned on Thursday that the Israeli military’s failure to pull out of Lebanon would be “considered a brazen breach of the agreement.” The resistance movement noted that missing the deadline would also constitute an infringement on Lebanese sovereignty. 
Meanwhile, the administration of US President Donald Trump appears to be endorsing the prolongation of the Israeli occupation.

According to CNN, a US Department of Defense official implied that the timeline for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon could be malleable.

Netanyahu’s far-right allies have already called for reoccupation of southern Lebanon. 

 “There is no way to restore security to the residents of the north without a war that will destroy Hezbollah, that will reoccupy southern Lebanon,” Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said in July. 

In October, he also advocated for the creation of a “Jewish state” that would encompass all Palestinian territories and neighboring Arab territories.

Smotrich said this “Jewish state” must extend into Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, Syria, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia.

For now, Israel is currently providing justifications for the continued presence of its military forces in Lebanon, while the United States is likely to craft a narrative to justify the regime’s occupation.