Israel Has US Backing to Stay In Lebanon Beyond Truce Deadline

• Israel's public broadcaster said on Wednesday, February 12, 2025, the U.S. had authorised a "long term" Israeli troop presence in southern Lebanon, after sources told Reuters Israel had sought an extension to a Feb. 18 deadline to withdraw its forces.
• Under a truce deal brokered by Washington in November, Israeli troops were granted 60 days to withdraw from southern Lebanon where they had waged a ground offensive against fighters from Lebanon's armed group Hezbollah since early October.
• Hezbollah combatants were to leave the zone and Lebanese troops were to deploy in the area within the same period.
• The initial deadline has already been extended from January 26 until February 18. A Lebanese official and a foreign diplomat in Lebanon told Reuters that Israel had now asked to remain in five posts in the south for a further 10 days.
• Israeli public broadcaster KAN later cited senior officials in Israel's security cabinet as saying that the U.S. had granted Israeli troops permission to stay "in several locations" in Lebanon beyond February 18. It did not specify a new deadline.

(Source: Reuters)