The Lebanese Armed Forces confirmed its troops began deploying in the southern Lebanese village of Khiam as Israeli forces withdrew on Wednesday as part of a ceasefire.
“Army units were deployed in five locations around the town of Khiyam – Marjayoun in coordination with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon,” the LAF tweeted. The army warned residents not to return until army personnel finish checking the village for unexploded ordnance.
US CENTCOM commander Gen. Michael Kurilla visited Beirut to oversee the town’s handover and meet with Lebanon’s armed forces commander, General Joseph Aoun, CENTCOM reported on X.
Under the terms of a two-month ceasefire that went into effect on November 27, Hezbollah is supposed to withdraw its armed presence from areas of southern Lebanon south of the Litani River. Israeli forces will also withdraw from southern Lebanon in stages. The Lebanese Armed Forces is to be deployed in southern Lebanon including along the 120 km border with Israel, as will monitors from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon.
After the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023, Hezbollah began launching rockets and launching drones at northern Israel communities daily. More than 68,000 residents of northern Israel are displaced from their homes. Hezbollah leaders have repeatedly said they would continue the attacks to prevent Israelis from returning to their homes.
According to United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 Second Lebanon War, Hezbollah is forbidden from operating in southern Lebanon south of the Litani River.
At least 1,200 people were killed, and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Of the 97 remaining hostages, more than 30 have been declared dead. Hamas has also been holding captive two Israeli civilians since 2014 and 2015, and the bodies of two soldiers killed in 2014.
