Lebanon demands full Israeli troop withdrawal from southLebanon called for a full Israeli army pull out from its territory in the south as agreed under a ceasefire agreement involving Hezbollah.
President Joseph Aoun held talks with Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri to discuss Israeli violations of the truce deal, a statement from the president’s office said.
The talks came shortly after the Israeli military withdrew from some southern Lebanese towns, but remained in five border outposts in violation of the ceasefire.
Under the deal, Israel was supposed to complete its withdrawal from southern Lebanon by January 26, but the deadline was extended to Tuesday after Israel refused to comply.
Lebanese officials called for “a complete Israeli withdrawal from the occupied Lebanese territories in compliance with international charters and laws and UN resolutions”, the statement said.
Lebanese government to seek new IMF programme, policy statement saysLebanon’s new government will negotiate with the International Monetary Fund for a new programme and will work to deal with the country’s financial default and public debt, according to a policy statement approved by the cabinet.
The statement, a copy of which was reviewed by the Reuters news agency, said the government would work for an economical revival that could only be achieved through restructuring the banking sector.
Lebanon has been in deep economic crisis since 2019 when its financial system collapsed under the weight of massive state debts, prompting a sovereign default in 2020 and freezing ordinary depositors out of their savings in the banking system.
Beirut reached a draft funding deal with IMF in 2022 – contingent on reforms that authorities failed to deliver. Finance Minister Yassine Jaber, who took office as part of a new government agreed earlier this month, said an IMF mission is expected to visit Lebanon in March.
US bombers ‘demonstrate force projection capabilities’ in the Middle EastThe US military confirmed reports that its strategic bombers – escorted by refueling aircraft and fighter jets – completed a run over the Middle East “to demonstrate force projection capabilities in the region”.
US Central Command said “live munitions drops at ranges in several partner nations” were part of the mission, aimed at showing an “ability to respond to any state or non-state actor seeking to broaden or escalate conflict”.
The statement comes after threats to bomb Iran by US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Israeli forces kill child in southern Gaza’s Rafah city: ReportA child has been killed by Israeli forces near al-Awda Square in Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip, according to the Palestinian Information Center.
The agency said another child was shot and injured by the Israeli army east of Gaza City’s Shujayea neighbourhood.
Earlier, we reported based on the Wafa news agency that Israeli forces killed a woman this morning east of the municipality of ash-Shawka in Rafah.
Israel violated Gaza ceasefire ‘266 times’, killing 132 PalestiniansPalestinian security sources have told Al Jazeera they registered 266 violations of the ceasefire agreement since it came into effect in the Gaza Strip on January 19.
Those violations have led to the killing of at least 132 Palestinians, including 26 who succumbed to their wounds. More than 900 people were injured as a result of Israeli gunfire and raids on the enclave.
Most violations occurred in central Gaza, with 110 incidents, followed by 54 in Rafah, 49 in Gaza City, 19 in Khan Younis, and 13 in the northern Gaza Strip.
Throughout the ceasefire, Israeli leaders have been discussing the possibility of an imminent return to fighting, with far-right ministers in Netanyahu’s cabinet pushing for military occupation of the enclave.
Video shows southern Lebanon village in ruins after Israeli military withdrawalFootage verified by Al Jazeera’s Sanad fact-checking agency depicts the scale of destruction in the village of Markaba near the border with Israel.
Israeli forces reduced almost the entirety of the village in southern Lebanon to rubble before withdrawing. The Lebanese army announced today the deployment of its military units there.
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1354901035763036Katz threatens Lebanon with more violence as Israeli forces remain in buffer zoneIsraeli Defense Minister Israel Katz says the army will “forcefully” enforce the ceasefire deal in Lebanon and act against any Hezbollah threat, as Israeli troops remain in five strategic posts.
“Starting today, the [army] will remain in a buffer zone in Lebanon in five strategic outposts along the border line, to ensure the protection of the northern communities,” he said on X, adding that the army would “continue to enforce forcefully and without compromise against any violation by Hezbollah”.
“We will not allow a return to the reality of October 7th,” he concluded.
Residents await return to Lebanese towns, villages levelled by Israeli forcesZeina KhodrReporting from Deir Mimas, LebanonThe Lebanese army is still clearing areas of unexploded munitions as Israeli forces withdraw from towns and villages along the border.
People who have been displaced from the area for more than a year have been waiting here for hours to go back to their homes and see what is left, but most of them will tell you they know there is nothing left because most of these towns along the border have been levelled to the ground.
It is not just because of the war. Since that ceasefire took effect in late November, Israeli troops have been demolishing infrastructure and homes, saying they are Hezbollah’s military infrastructure.
So, people here will tell you they are going back to nothing but they still want to go back home.
What are the five hilltops in Lebanon that Israel plans to remain on?The deadline for Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon has now passed.
We have more information on the five locations where the Israeli army has said its troops will remain.
They are:
''a hill near Labbouneh, across from the Israeli town of Shlomi
the Jabal Blat peak, across from the Israeli town of Zar’it''
a hill across from the Israeli towns of Avivim and Malkiaa hill across from the Israeli town of Margaliota hill across from the Israeli town of Metula.None of the posts is located within built-up areas but Israel has said it will prevent “suspects” from approaching the Israeli border and newly established positions, according to our correspondent.
Israeli army launches interceptor missile at drone near Lebanon borderLocal outlets have documented the footage below, which has been verified by Al Jazeera’s Sanad fact-checking agency, showing how the Israeli military launched an interceptor missile that hit a drone in the Mount Hermon area.
Israeli Army Radio said the drone belonged to the Israeli military, and was downed in order to prevent it from falling into Lebanese hands after it suffered a malfunction.
Palestinian President Abbas fires official who criticised him for ending ‘martyrs’ fund’Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has fired an official who criticised his decision to end a system that paid stipends to the families of prisoners, including those convicted of deadly attacks against Israelis.
Abbas announced the replacement of Qadura Fares as head of the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS) without providing an explanation.
Last week, Abbas put an end to what was known as the “martyrs’ fund”, acquiescing to longstanding demands by the United States and Israel.
Many Palestinians viewed the payments as compensation for people harmed in the course of their struggle against Israeli military rule.
The Hamas movement, which drove Abbas’s forces from Gaza in 2007, criticised Fares’s firing, saying it reflected the “oppression and exclusion” practiced by the authority and its “submission to Zionist and American dictates”.
Israel violated ‘right to education’ by storming UNRWA-run schools in West Bank: LazzariniUNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini has confirmed that Israeli soldiers and municipality authorities stormed three schools and a training centre in the occupied West Bank and ordered immediate evacuations.
He said 250 children in three schools run by the UN agency in occupied East Jerusalem were affected, along with more than 350 trainees at the large training centre that was targeted in Qalandiya.
“This is a violation of the basic right to education as well as of United Nations privileges and immunities,” Lazzarini added in a post on X.
UN says Israel violating Security Council resolution on LebanonUN envoy Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert and the UNIFIL peacekeeping force have said in a joint statement that at “the end of the period set” for Israel’s withdrawal and the Lebanese army’s deployment, any further “delay in this process is not what we hoped would happen” and a violation of a 2006 Security Council resolution that ended a past Israel-Hezbollah war.
“The new Lebanese President and Government are determined to extend state authority completely in all areas in the south and consolidate stability to prevent conflict from returning to Lebanon. They deserve unwavering support in this endeavour,” they said.
As we have reported earlier, Israeli forces pulled out from Yaroun, Maroun al-Ras, Blida, Meiss el-Jabal, Hula, Markaba, Odaisseh, Kfar Kila, and Wazzani, but remain at five hilltops along the Israel-Lebanon border.
Netanyahu’s office confirms Israel to receive six living captives, four bodiesThe office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the talks in Cairo resulted in an agreement on the release of six living Israeli captives on Saturday as part of the first phase of the ceasefire deal with Hamas.
Israel will also receive the bodies of four Israeli prisoners on Thursday and the bodies of four others a week later, the statement said.
The Times of Israel newspaper said the families of the captives have been notified.
Netanyahu orders immediate enforcement of UNRWA banThe Israeli prime minister has issued a directive ordering the law banning the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) be “enforced immediately”.
In a post on X, Netanyahu’s office said, “There are no restrictions on the implementation of the Prime Minister’s directive.”
Arab League summit on Gaza postponed to March 4: EgyptAn extraordinary Arab League meeting on Gaza initially planned for next week has been postponed to March 4, host Egypt says.
The Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement the new date was agreed with Arab League members as part of “substantive and logistical preparations” for the summit, which had been called in response to Trump’s proposal to take over the war-battered Gaza Strip and displace its Palestinian inhabitants.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2025/2/18/live-israel-pushes-forward-with-plans-for-voluntary-expulsions-from-gaza