Lebanese army says Israel procrastinating in withdrawal

Lebanon's army accused Israel of procrastinating in withdrawing troops from south Lebanon as required under a ceasefire that ended the war with Hezbollah, a day after Israel said its forces would remain beyond a Sunday deadline for their departure.

The Lebanese army, in a statement issued on Saturday, also urged Lebanese residents to wait before heading into the border region, citing the presence of mines and unexploded Israeli ordnance.

Under the U.S.-brokered agreement, which took effect on Nov. 27, Hezbollah weapons and fighters must be removed from areas south of the Litani River and Israeli troops should withdraw as the Lebanese military deploys into the region, all within a 60-day time frame, meaning by Sunday at 4 a.m. (0200 GMT).

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said on Friday the terms had not been fully enforced by the Lebanese state. The White House said a short, temporary ceasefire extension was urgently needed.

The U.S.-backed Lebanese army said it had continued to implement the plan to strengthen its deployment south of the Litani River since the ceasefire came into effect.

"Delays occurred in a number of the phases as a result of procrastination in the withdrawal by the Israeli enemy, which complicated the mission of the army's deployment," the statement said. The army "maintains its readiness to complete its deployment as soon as the Israeli enemy withdraws", it added.

The ceasefire ended more than a year of hostilities which were triggered by the Gaza war and peaked in a major Israeli offensive against the Iran-backed Hezbollah, which uprooted more than a million people in Lebanon.

The Israeli government has not said how much longer its forces might remain in south Lebanon, where the Israeli military says it has been seizing Hezbollah weapons and dismantling infrastructure used by the Shi'ite armed group.

Hezbollah, which suffered major blows in the war, said on Thursday that any delay of Israel's withdrawal would be an unacceptable breach of the deal and put the onus on the Lebanese state to act. Hezbollah said the state would have to deal with such a violation "through all means and methods guaranteed by international charters".

Israel said its campaign against Hezbollah aimed to secure the return home of tens of thousands of people forced by Hezbollah rocket fire to leave their homes in northern Israel.