Will Israel withdraw from Lebanon by February 18?

With the already extended deadline for Israel to withdraw from Lebanon fast approaching, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly asked U.S. President Donald Trump to support a further extension of the Israeli army’s deployment there.

According to a report Israel’s Channel 12, Israel is seeking to keep a military presence at five key border points to enable the maintenance of a buffer zone.

The report said that Israel has reiterated to the U.S. its claim that the Lebanese Army is not effectively deployed in south Lebanon, as the terms of the ceasefire said it would, and is not preventing Hezbollah from reorganizing. Israel has warned that Hezbollah aims to return to the border area as soon as Israeli troops depart.

Under the original terms of the ceasefire deal signed in November, all Israeli troops were slated to pull out of southern Lebanon by January 26, in coordination with the deployment of Lebanese troops.

Two days before that deadline, Netanyahu announced that Israel would not be withdrawing by that date, accusing Lebanon of not meeting its obligations under the agreement.

Several days later, the White House announced that Israel and Lebanon agreed to extend the deadline for Israeli troops to depart southern Lebanon until February 18.

Morgan Ortagus, Trump’s deputy special envoy to the Middle East, visited Lebanon and then Israel over the weekend.

Speaking to media in Lebanon on Friday, Ortagus said the already-extended deadline for Israeli troops to depart was a “firm date.”

“February 18th will be the date for redeployment whenever the Israeli -- the IDF troops will finish their redeployment,” she said in a response to a question at the presidential palace in Baabda.

“And of course, the LAF (Lebanese Army) troops will come in behind them. So, we are very committed to that firm date,” said Ortagus, adding that “I’ll be back to Lebanon quite a bit.”

Under the terms of the original deal, Lebanon’s military was to deploy in the south alongside U.N. peacekeepers as Israel withdrew over 60 days. Hezbollah was also to pull back north of the Litani River -- about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the border -- and dismantle any remaining military infrastructure in the south.

Israel’s military says its forces have continued to uncover and seize Hezbollah weapons in prohibited areas and that the Lebanese Army is not keeping to its part of the deal.

Lebanese MP Nabil Bader had announced Monday that Israel has requested a 10-day extension of its presence in south Lebanon, until February 28.

Al-Jadeed TV meanwhile said that the ceasefire monitoring committee will convene before Feb. 18 and that Ortagus will return to Lebanon for a second visit prior to that date.

And as Israel’s Channel 12 said that Israeli officials believe that Washington will accept another extension of the deadline to “prevent Hezbollah’s return to the border,” the Jeursalem Post newspaper said the U.S. conveyed to Israel on Monday that the Israeli army must withdraw from south Lebanon by February 18, with no further extensions to the ceasefire being granted.

U.S. National Security Council Spokesperson Brian Hughes told The Jerusalem Post that “Israel’s withdrawal remains on the existing timeline, and they did not request an extension.”

Israeli officials told the Post that despite the firm deadline, Israel is still in talks with the U.S. in an attempt to improve the situation on the ground.