Report: Hezbollah quietly ceding posts north of Litani to army
Dialogue between the Lebanese state and Hezbollah over the latter’s remaining weapons is ongoing behind the scenes, a diplomatic source from the five-nation group for Lebanon said.
“A number of sites north of the Litani River have been handed over, away from the spotlight and media coverage, as per the agreement between the two sides,” al-Liwaa newspaper quoted the source as saying.
Israel has continued to launch raids on Lebanon despite a November truce which sought to halt more than a year of hostilities with Hezbollah including two months of all-out war.
Under the ceasefire, the Iran-backed Hezbollah was to pull back its fighters north of Lebanon's Litani River and dismantle any remaining military infrastructure to its south.
Israel was to withdraw all its forces from Lebanon, but it has kept troops in five areas that it deems "strategic".
The Lebanese Army has been deploying in the south as Israeli forces have withdrawn and has been dismantling Hezbollah infrastructure.
The truce was based on a United Nations Security Council resolution that says Lebanese troops and U.N. peacekeepers should be the only forces in south Lebanon, and calls for the disarmament of all non-state groups.
Last month, President Joseph Aoun said the army was deployed in more than 85 percent of the south, and that the sole obstacle to full control across the frontier area was "Israel's occupation of five border positions."
Also in April, Lebanon's military said a munitions blast in the south killed three personnel, days after an explosion killed another soldier as the force was dismantling mines in a tunnel.
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