President Joseph Aoun meeting with the committee responsible for monitoring the ceasefire in south Lebanon on March 11, 2025, at the Baabda Palace. (Credit: X/@LBpresidency)
BEIRUT — During a meeting at Baabda Palace on Tuesday, President Joseph Aoun called on the committee responsible for monitoring the Israel-Hezbollah cease-fire agreement to pressure Israel to respect the truce's terms and ensure the Israeli army completely withdraws from southern Lebanon.
According to a statement posted on X, Aoun asked the committee chairman, American general Jasper Jeffers, to "pressure Israel to implement the agreement, withdraw from the five points [where Israeli troops continue to occupy Lebanese territory] and release the Lebanese hostages."
This call came as the Israeli army attacks southern Lebanon and the Bekaa daily, targeting alleged Hezbollah militants despite the cease-fire and after a period of violations the duration of the truce.
One dead in southern Lebanon
On Tuesday, an Israeli drone carried out a strike on a car on the Deir Zahrani-Houmin al-Faouqa (Nabatieh) road, killing at least one person, according to L'Orient Today's correspondent in southern Lebanon.
Israeli soldiers approached the Lebanese village of Ramieh (Bint Jbeil) and fired a machine gun in the area as they passed by the village school square.
A cease-fire agreement came into effect on Nov. 27 to end the war between Israel and Hezbollah that had been ongoing since Oct. 8, 2023, and intensified last September. The agreement stipulated, among other things, a the gradual Israeli withdrawal from occupied villages in southern Lebanon, so that the Lebanese Army could deploy in areas formerly under Hezbollah's influence.
However, even after the end of the once-extended transitional period on Feb. 18, Israeli soldiers continue to occupy five geographically strategic points in southern Lebanon and continues its almost daily military operations. Israel has killed more than 60 people in Lebanon since the war supposedly ended.