Lebanese Army Deploys South as Israel Withdraws from Border Villages

Civil Defense teams in Tyre are returning the bodies of those killed during the war for their final burial (Reuters)
Civil Defense teams in Tyre are returning the bodies of those killed during the war for their final burial (Reuters)
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Lebanese Army Deploys South as Israel Withdraws from Border Villages

Civil Defense teams in Tyre are returning the bodies of those killed during the war for their final burial (Reuters)
Civil Defense teams in Tyre are returning the bodies of those killed during the war for their final burial (Reuters)

Tensions remain high on Lebanon's southern border, with Israel continuing to violate the ceasefire daily. Efforts are underway, both within Lebanon and internationally, to prevent another war.

Meanwhile, the Lebanese Army is completing its deployment in the south as Israeli forces pull out of villages they had entered.

Lebanese officials are hopeful for calm and expect all parties to stick to the agreement. The monitoring committee is set to begin its work soon, with the French general arriving on Wednesday, following the American general who will lead the committee.

Their first meeting will be on Thursday, according to military sources.

As Israel began pulling out its troops and equipment from villages in southern Lebanon, Lebanon’s National News Agency reported on Tuesday that the Lebanese Army had stepped up its presence in Tyre and nearby areas to ensure security.

This marks the start of the Army’s redeployment in the south, especially in border villages.

The Lebanese Army also announced it is recruiting volunteers to strengthen its forces in the south and help implement UN Security Council Resolution 1701 after the ceasefire.

The ceasefire agreement calls for a 60-day truce, during which Israel is expected to withdraw from the southern villages. Hezbollah is required to end its armed presence south of the Litani River, where 10,000 Lebanese soldiers and UN peacekeepers (UNIFIL) will be deployed.

Tensions, however, eased on Tuesday along Lebanon's southern border after a sharp escalation between Hezbollah and Israel on Monday evening.

Nevertheless, Israeli violations continued, with over 80 breaches recorded by the Lebanese Army in the past week.

On Tuesday, Israeli shelling killed a civilian in Shebaa, with the National News Agency reporting the man was struck by a missile from an Israeli drone.

An artillery shell also hit the Marjayoun Plain, and an Israeli Merkava tank crossed into the area near the border between Deir Mimas, Burj al-Mulouk, and Kfarkila in the south, stopping 200 meters from a Lebanese Army checkpoint.

Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV reported a convoy of 15 Israeli vehicles moved from the Wazzani border area toward Wadi al-Khayam, with part of the convoy heading towards the eastern part of Khiam. This followed reports that Israeli vehicles had withdrawn from eastern Khiam on Monday.

Israel also launched airstrikes on the town of Bayt Lifa in southern Lebanon and fired machine guns at Majdal Zoun.

In response, the Israeli military said it targeted a terrorist cell in the Bekaa Valley.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned on Monday that Israel might push deeper into Lebanon and no longer differentiate between the Lebanese state and Hezbollah if the ceasefire breaks down.

Katz stated, “If the ceasefire collapses, Lebanon will have no immunity,” adding that Israel would act with greater force if the war resumes.



Cyprus Says Syria Will Take Back Citizens Trying to Reach the Mediterranean Island by Boat

Migrants stand behind a fence inside a refugee camp in Kokkinotrimithia outside of capital Nicosia, Cyprus, on Friday, Feb. 5, 2021. (AP)
Migrants stand behind a fence inside a refugee camp in Kokkinotrimithia outside of capital Nicosia, Cyprus, on Friday, Feb. 5, 2021. (AP)
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Cyprus Says Syria Will Take Back Citizens Trying to Reach the Mediterranean Island by Boat

Migrants stand behind a fence inside a refugee camp in Kokkinotrimithia outside of capital Nicosia, Cyprus, on Friday, Feb. 5, 2021. (AP)
Migrants stand behind a fence inside a refugee camp in Kokkinotrimithia outside of capital Nicosia, Cyprus, on Friday, Feb. 5, 2021. (AP)

Syria has agreed to take back any of its citizens intercepted trying to reach Cyprus by boat, the Mediterranean island nation's deputy minister for migration said Monday.

Nicholas Ioannides says two inflatable boats, each carrying 30 Syrians, were already turned back in recent days in line with a bilateral search and rescue agreement that Cyprus and Syria now have in place.

Officials didn't share further details about the agreement.

Cypriot navy and police patrol boats intercepted the two vessels on May 9th and 10th after they put out a call for help. They were outside Cypriot territorial waters but within the island's search and rescue area of responsibility, a government statement said. They were subsequently escorted back to a port in the Syrian city of Tartus.

Ioannides told private TV station Antenna there’s been an uptick of boatloads of migrants trying to reach Cyprus from Syria, unlike in recent years when vessels would primarily depart from Lebanon. Cyprus and Lebanon have a long-standing agreement to send back migrants.

He said Cypriot authorities and their Syrian counterparts are trying to fight back against human traffickers who are supplying an underground market for laborers.

According to Ioannides, traffickers apparently cut deals with local employers to bring in Syrian laborers who pick up work right away, despite laws that prevent asylum-seekers from working before the completion of a nine-month residency period.

“The message we’re sending is that the Cyprus Republic won’t tolerate the abuse of the asylum system from people who aren’t eligible for either asylum or international protection and just come here only to work,” Ioannides said.

The bilateral agreement is compounded by the Cypriot government’s decision last week not to automatically grant asylum to Syrian migrants, but to examine their applications individually on merit and according to international and European laws.

From a total of 19,000 pending asylum applications, 13,000 have been filed by Syrian nationals, according to figures quoted by Ioannides.

Since Assad was toppled in December last year and a new transitional government took power, some 2,300 Syrians have either dropped their asylum claims or rescinded their international protection status, while 2,100 have already departed Cyprus for Syria.

Both the United Nations refugee agency and Europe’s top human rights body have urged the Cyprus government to stop pushing back migrants trying to reach the island by boat. Cyprus strongly denies it’s committing any pushbacks according to its definition.