The Israel Defense Forces pulled out of southern Lebanese villages but remained in five key positions Tuesday morning, around an hour before the deadline for the withdrawal expired under the ceasefire deal with Hezbollah.

The IDF did not officially confirm completing the pullout, but the matter was confirmed by observers on both sides. Defense Minister Israel Katz said the IDF was remaining in “a buffer zone,” with “five strategic outposts,” and would enforce the ceasefire “against any violation by Hezbollah.”

“The Israeli army has withdrawn from all border villages except for five points, while the Lebanese army is gradually deploying due to the presence of explosives in some areas and damage to the roads,” a Lebanese security source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP.

The Lebanese Armed Forces said Tuesday morning that it had deployed overnight to several villages and towns in southern Lebanon after the IDF withdrawal.

LAF troops entered Aabbasiyyeh, Majidieh, Kafr Kila, Marjaayoun, Odaisseh, Markaba, Houla, Mays al-Jabal, Blida, Mahbib, Maroun al-Ras, Yaron, Bint Jbeil, and several other locations near the Israeli border, the Lebanese military said in a statement.

The deployment was being carried out in coordination with a US-led committee supervising the November 27 ceasefire with Israel and the UN observer force UNIFIL, the LAF added.

The LAF said engineering units were surveying the areas, opening roads, and safely removing unexploded ordnance left behind from the fighting.

Several local authorities, including Mays al-Jabal’s municipality, have called on displaced residents to wait for the LAF to deploy there before coming back, so as to guarantee their “safe”........

© The Times of Israel