Lebanon will consider any remaining Israeli presence on its lands an occupation and has the right to use all means to ensure an Israeli withdrawal, a spokesperson for the Lebanese presidency said on Tuesday.
The statement came as the deadline for the US-brokered ceasefire that halted last year's war between Israel and Hezbollah ended on Tuesday with Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz confirming that troops remained in "five positions" in south Lebanon.
Israeli forces withdrew from border villages in southern Lebanon, but Katz said the military "will remain in a buffer zone in Lebanon with five control positions, and will continue to act forcefully and uncompromisingly against any Hezbollah violation.”
However, Lebanon's three top officials — the country's president, prime minister and parliament speaker — in a joint statement said that Israel’s continued presence on the five points was in violation of the ceasefire agreement. They called on the UN Security Council to take action to force a complete Israeli withdrawal.
“The continued Israeli presence in any inch of Lebanese territory is an occupation, with all the legal consequences that result from that according to international legitimacy,” the statement said.
Hezbollah began firing rockets across the border on Oct. 8, 2023, one day after a deadly Hamas-led incursion into southern Israel sparked the war in Gaza. Israel responded with shelling and airstrikes in Lebanon, and the two sides became locked in an escalating conflict that became a full-blown war last September.
More than 4,000 people were killed in Lebanon and more than 1 million displaced at the height of the conflict.
