Israel continues to occupy south Lebanon beyond deadline day, kills 24 returning civilians
The Israelis have shown no interest to withdraw from Lebanon.
At 4 am Sunday, the deadline for the Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanese territories became effective. But the Israelis remained entrenched in Lebanon and went on to kill at least 24 Lebanese civilians and injure dozens more for daring to exercise the legal right to return to their homes. On cue the United States — which brokered the ceasefire deal between Hezbollah and Israel with France and is in charge of monitoring the deal — extended the time for Israeli withdrawal until February 18.
So what are the Israelis doing in the additional time handed by the Zionist US government? Have they started withdrawing to ensure they will be out of Lebanese territory by the next deadline? Here’s Avichai Adraee, the despicable Arabic language spokesman of the occupation forces, updating on the latest moves of his military, “The IDF has recently redeployed to various locations in southern Lebanon.” Yes, the illegitimate occupiers have used the additional time from their American benefactors to entrench themselves some more on the land that doesn’t belong to them.
By all accounts, the Zionist genocidaires, who slaughtered over 5,000 Lebanese civilians across the length and breadth of Lebanon in a months-long terror campaign last year and who were busy making plans to colonise southern Lebanon and whose propaganda outlets were pushing such stories as “Southern Lebanon is actually northern Israel”, don’t have any intention of leaving until they are forced out.
That the Israelis planned to squat inside Lebanon was clear from the beginning as they continued to go ever deeper into Lebanese territory after the signing of the truce deal. The Zionist foot soldiers reached areas of southern Lebanon that the Hezbollah men had fiercely defended and prevented them from reaching. In the towns and villages that suddenly became accessible after the truce, the Zionists have gone on to kill civilians, decimate entire neighbourhoods, desecrate mosques and churches, and plant their genocidal flag on territories that don’t belong to them. In all, the Israelis have violated the ceasefire deal over 1,000 times, without so much as a word of condemnation from the brokers of the agreement. Throughout these Israeli transgressions, Hezbollah has shown considerable restraint and remained faithful to the terms of the deal.
Meanwhile, the people of southern Lebanon, displaced for months, didn’t wait for the Israeli withdrawal to return to their homes. Undaunted by the guns and tanks of the illegitimate occupiers, they began marching to their homes in the wee hours of Sunday. Some of them paid for their righteous indignation with their lives as the Israeli thugs murdered unarmed civilians. Hezbollah paid tribute to the residents of the south for their bravery, “Our honorable people... Today, you amaze the world once again, proving without a doubt that you are a proud nation, a loyal nation, and a courageous nation.”
Earlier, the Lebanese Member of Parliament from Hezbollah, Ali Fayyad, had said that Hezbollah wouldn’t tolerate Israeli presence on Lebanese territory beyond January 26. “We are awaiting January 26, the date stipulated in the ceasefire agreement for a full Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territories,” Fayyad had stated. “We will treat any Israeli presence, even on an inch of land, as a violation of the agreement.” Hezbollah hasn’t yet commented on the extension of the truce deal.
It’s worth remembering that a day before the Israelis rushed to sign the ceasefire deal, the Lebanese resistance had scorched Tel Aviv (in an equation it labelled Tel Aviv for Beirut) and forced 4 million squatters — over half of the Israeli Jewish population — to run for shelter.
The longer that the Israelis continue their presence inside sovereign Lebanese territory the greater are the chances of conflagrations with Hezbollah flaring once again. By the evidence of the Israeli performance against the Lebanese fighters — both in 2006 and more recently until late November last year — the Zionists will be in for a lot of pain if a direct confrontation restarts.
The chances of just such an eventuality seems quite strong as the extension of the truce deal by the United States proves once again that any deals and promises made by the Americans and their vassals aren’t worth the papers they are printed on. We have seen countless examples of Western perfidy globally, but especially in Gaza during the ongoing genocide. To count just two examples, the Americans built a pier (remember that murderous Rube Goldberg machine?) in the Mediterranean to ostensibly deliver aid, however, the fraudulent pier ultimately delivered American soldiers for a massacre that killed nearly 300 Palestinian civilians in the Nuseirat refugee camp. The Americans gave the Israelis 30 days to increase aid to northern Gaza as they tightened the siege on the top half of the besieged enclave. The Israelis, however, didn’t comply with the American request and faced no consequences in return for their intransigence.
American utterings are hokum.
Further, through the course of Israeli terrorism since October 7, international law — if anyone believed in it in the first place — has been rendered completely useless. No international body is coming to save the natives, no international charities will feed their starved. They will have to fend for themselves.
“This [Gaza] experience shows that if you are weak, the world does not recognise you, defend you, or mourn you,” the martyred Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah remarked back in January last year. “What protects you is your strength, courage, fists, weapons, missiles, and your presence in the battlefield. The experience of Gaza demonstrates that if you are strong, you command respect from the world.”
That last line in particular is resonant as the Palestinian resistance ultimately forced the Israelis to come to the drawing table on its terms. While the civilian suffering in Gaza had been immense, the resistance continued to bleed the Israeli military dry through the course of the genocide and even escalated the cost on the Israelis in the two weeks leading to the January 19 ceasefire agreement. The resistance ultimately got the prisoner exchange, influx of aid, and Israeli withdrawal from the Palestinian territories that it has sought since October 7.
Hooked to violence, the Israelis only understand the language of force. It remains to be seen when Hezbollah’s patience runs out and it proceeds to take its lands back by force.
Everything on Palestine Will Be Free will always remain free to read. If you find value in my work consider a paid subscription here or on Ko-fi or Patreon. You can make Bitcoin donations here:
Bitcoin address: bc1qyk2hsc4ql9hg2cwv3agj8ujyhdrht5qlm6sa4r
Just how genocidal is the average Israeli? Here's a snapshot
The ink hasn’t yet dried on a tenuous ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon, and the triumphant Lebanese are back to their localities, burying their dead, cherishing their martyrs, mending their wounds, assessing the damage, rebuilding their homes, and starting afresh. Meanwhile, the Israelis? Well, they want more genocide. Typical.
"Israelis," whoever and whatever they are, have written the book on terrorism for the 20th and 21st centuries. They have said as much, and they flaunt it before the eyes of the world. Of course they couldn't survive a day without their Fifth Columnists in the US and elsewhere.
These people cannot be trusted. Simple as that.