US announces first Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon under ceasefire agreement

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said the deployment of troops “in the areas of Jiam and Marjayoun represents a fundamental step.”

“We welcome the army’s efforts to achieve stability in the south,” Mikati wrote in a post on the X network.

For its part, the Israeli Army reported that its seventh brigade “completed its mission in Jiam and southern Lebanon.”

The Pentagon later indicated that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had spoken with his Israeli counterpart, Israel Katz, and told him that the United States works with its regional partners to support the ceasefire.

Austin emphasized that the ceasefire “has the potential to create the conditions to restore lasting calm and allow residents on both sides of the Israel-Lebanon border to safely return to their homes,” according to the statement.

Israel advanced with its campaign in southern Lebanon at the end of September, after almost a year of exchanged fire on the border with the Hezbollah group, which began firing in support of Hamas, its ally, following the attack by the Palestinian Islamist group on 7 October 2023 in southern Israel.