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Deadline for Israeli withdrawal from south Lebanon expires

Published January 26, 2025last updated January 26, 2025

Tensions have erupted in southern Lebanon after a deadline expired for Israeli troops to withdraw. Meanwhile, Donald Trump has lifted a hold on sending 2,000-pound bombs to Israel.

https://p.dw.com/p/4pdSl
Israeli military vehicles and tanks on patrol in Nabatieh Governorate of southern Lebanon on January 25, 2025
Israel says its troops will stay in southern Lebanon beyond the Sunday deadlineImage: Stringer/Anadolu/picture alliance
Skip next section What you need to know

What you need to know

  • US President Donald Trump has released his predecessor's hold on sending 2,000-pound bombs to Israel

  • Trump is urging Jordan and Egypt to accept more Palestinian refugees from Gaza

  • Israel has missed a Sunday deadline to withdraw troops from southern Lebanon

  • UN officials say conditions are not ready for residents of southern Lebanon to safely return 

  • Lebanon's Health Ministry says at least 15 people died in Israeli attacks as people attempted to return to their home towns

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Skip next section Palestinian president rejects Trump's idea to 'clean out' Gaza
January 26, 2025

Palestinian president rejects Trump's idea to 'clean out' Gaza

The office of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas rejected Donald Trump's suggestion that the Gaza Strip be "clean[ed] out" and that Egypt and Jordan take in more Palestinians.

The Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited control over parts of the occupied West Bank, said any mass displacement "constitutes a violation of the red lines that we have repeatedly warned against."

"Our people will not leave," the statement said. "We warn of the repercussions of such a dangerous Israeli policy that contributes to severing the ties of the Gaza Strip, and displacing its people, which will lead to destabilization."

https://p.dw.com/p/4peuA
Skip next section Jordan rejects displacement of Palestinians
January 26, 2025

Jordan rejects displacement of Palestinians

Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said the kingdom rejected any displacement of Palestinians.

"Our rejection of the displacement of Palestinians is firm and will not change. Jordan is for Jordanians and Palestine is for Palestinians," Safadi said in a statement.

The comments from Safadi come in the wake of US President Donald Trump’s suggestion on Saturday that Egypt and Jordan should accept Palestinians from Gaza.

Trump said he would urge the leaders of the two Arab countries to take in Gaza's now largely homeless population, so that "we just clean out that whole thing."

Trump said that the resettlement of Gaza's population "could be temporary or long term."

https://p.dw.com/p/4pehX
Skip next section Netanyahu's office says Israeli companies allowed at Paris Air Show
January 26, 2025

Netanyahu's office says Israeli companies allowed at Paris Air Show

French President Emmanuel Macron had agreed to allow Israeli companies at this year's Paris Air Show, according to aides of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

"The French president assured the prime minister that Israeli companies would be able to participate in the Paris Air Show," the AFP news agency quoted Netanyahu's office as having said in a statement following a call between the two leaders.

In October 2024, after Macron criticized the number of civilian casualties in Gaza and Lebanon, it was reported that Israeli companies would not be welcome at the Euronaval defense show in Paris. However, a Paris court ruled that the organizers could not prevent Israeli companies from taking part in the event.

At the time, Netanyahu said that Israel was fighting "the forces of barbarism... (and) all civilized countries should be standing firmly by Israel's side. Yet, President Macron and other Western leaders are now calling for arms embargoes against Israel. Shame on them."

The Paris Air Show is one of the world's premier aerospace events for both civil and military companies and is to be held in June this year.

https://p.dw.com/p/4pega
Skip next section Lebanon says Israeli army fired at residents trying to return, 15 killed
January 26, 2025

Lebanon says Israeli army fired at residents trying to return, 15 killed

Israeli troops opened fire in southern Lebanon on Sunday, killing 14 civilians and a Lebanese soldier, Lebanese officials said.

Lebanon's Health Ministry said Israeli forces opened fire on "citizens trying to return to their villages."

"The aggressions of the Israeli enemy... have left 15 people dead including a soldier of the Lebanese army and three women," the authorities said, raising an earlier toll of 11 dead.

Over 80 people were previously reported to be wounded, including at least one more soldier.

Hundreds of people were trying to return to their homes in southern Lebanon on the deadline for Israel's withdrawal, part of a ceasefire agreement that ended its war with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group two months ago.

The deal, which took effect November 27, called for the Lebanese army to deploy alongside United Nations peacekeepers in the south as the Israeli army withdrew over a 60-day period.

Israel said on Friday it would keep troops in the south beyond Sunday's deadline, saying Lebanon had not yet fully implemented conditions requiring southern Lebanon to be cleared of Hezbollah weapons and the Lebanese army to be deployed.

https://p.dw.com/p/4peHh
Skip next section Lebanon military says Israeli fire killed soldier
January 26, 2025

Lebanon military says Israeli fire killed soldier

Lebanon's army has said Israeli fire killed one of its soldiers in the south of the country and injured another amid heightened tensions in the area.

The casualties were in two separate incidents on a road in the southern city of Tyre and the town of Mais al-Jabal, the Lebanese army said.

The casualties were the "result of their being targeted by shooting from the Israeli enemy," it added in an online statement.

https://p.dw.com/p/4pe6b
Skip next section Israeli far-right minister welcomes Trump idea to 'clean out' Gaza
January 26, 2025

Israeli far-right minister welcomes Trump idea to 'clean out' Gaza

Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has welcomed US President Donald Trump's idea to "clean out" Gaza by moving Palestinian residents of the territory to Egypt and Jordan.

Trump said Saturday that he had spoken about moving Palestinians out of Gaza to Jordan's King Abdullah II.

"I'd like Egypt to take people. And I'd like Jordan to take people," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One.

He added that he expected to talk with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi on Sunday.

Smotrich, a strong opponent of stopping the war in Gaza, welcomed the idea.

"I will, with God's help, work with the prime minister and the cabinet to ensure there is an operational plan to implement this as soon as possible," Smotrich said.

Any attempt to move people from Gaza would evoke dark historical memories for Palestinians of what the Arab world calls the "Nakba" or catastrophe — the mass displacement of Palestinians when Israel was created in 1948.

Egypt has previously warned against any "forced displacement," which el-Sissi said could jeopardize a 1979 peace treaty with Israel.

According to the United Nations, Jordan is already home to around 2.3 million registered Palestinian refugees.

Fleeing war in Gaza — for a new life in Egypt?

https://p.dw.com/p/4pe5b
Skip next section UN says conditions not yet in place for residents to return to south Lebanon
January 26, 2025

UN says conditions not yet in place for residents to return to south Lebanon

A joint statement from United Nations officials has said conditions are not ready for Lebanese citizens to safely return to southern Lebanon.

It said the timelines set under the US-brokered ceasefire that halted last year's war between Israel and Hezbollah had still not been met.

"As seen tragically this morning, conditions are not yet in place for the safe return of citizens to their villages along the Blue Line," said Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, the UN's special coordinator for Lebanon, referring to the demarcation line dividing Lebanon from Israel and the Golan Heights.

Hennis-Plasschaert made the statement alongside the head of the UN's peacekeeping mission in Lebanon. They both urged Israel and Lebanon to recommit to the deal.

The statement came after Israeli forces killed three people and wounded 44 others trying to return to homes in south Lebanon, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

Israeli troops remained on the ground there after a deadline for their withdrawal passed on Sunday.

Blue Line: A boundary between Israel and Lebanon

https://p.dw.com/p/4pe5M
Skip next section Lebanon says 3 killed by Israeli fire near border
January 26, 2025

Lebanon says 3 killed by Israeli fire near border

Members of the Lebanese army stand on a road, next to a military jeep
Lebanese troops have secured the area near the village of Kfar Kila, where Israeli forces remain on the groundImage: Karamallah Daher/REUTERS

The Lebanese Health Ministry has said three people died and more than 30 others were injured as a result of Israeli attacks in the country's south.

A statement from the ministry said the people were trying to return to their villages near the border with Israel when they came under fire.

It said one person was killed in the village of Houla, another in Aitaroun, and a third in Blida. It added that several people were wounded in Kfar Kila.

Israel had said locals are forbidden from moving back to Kfar Kila and some other border villages until further notice. It did not comment on the reported casualties.

Sunday is the final day for Israeli forces to withdraw from southern Lebanon under the terms of a ceasefire agreement that ended fighting with Iran-backed Hezbollah.

However, Israel has said it intends to keep its troops on the ground beyond the deadline, without specifying how long they will remain.

According to the truce agreement, Israeli forces were supposed to withdraw from southern Lebanon as Hezbollah removes its weapons and fighters from the area by Sunday morning.

Israel has said Lebanon's government had not held up its side of the deal, while Lebanon's military has accused Israel of procrastinating in its withdrawal.

https://p.dw.com/p/4pdcT
Skip next section Israel set to miss deadline for troop withdrawal from Lebanon
January 26, 2025

Israel set to miss deadline for troop withdrawal from Lebanon

The Israeli military is highly unlikely to meet Sunday's deadline to withdraw from southern Lebanon, as outlined in a ceasefire agreement that ended the fighting with Lebanese militant group Hezbollah two months ago.

In late November, the Lebanese army agreed to deploy its forces with United Nations peacekeepers in Lebanon's south as the Israeli military withdrew.

Under the terms of the deal, Israeli troops were to leave within a 60-day period which ends on Sunday. The deal also stipulates that Hezbollah pull back its forces north of the Litani River — about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the border.

The Lebanese army on Saturday accused Israel of "procrastination" in the pullout. 

"There has been a delay at a number of stages as a result of the procrastination in the withdrawal from the Israeli enemy's side," the army said in a statement.

Earlier this week, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said "the ceasefire agreement has not yet been fully enforced by the Lebanese state," and so the military's withdrawal would continue beyond the Sunday deadline.

https://p.dw.com/p/4pdSn
Skip next section Trump wants Jordan, Egypt to take more Palestinian refugees
January 26, 2025

Trump wants Jordan, Egypt to take more Palestinian refugees

Trump on Air Force One, speaking with reporters
Trump told reporters on board Air Force One that Gaza was a 'demolition site' as a result of the war Image: Mark Schiefelbein/AP/dpa/picture alliance

US President Donald Trump has told reporters aboard Air Force One that Jordan and Egypt should accept more Palestinians from Gaza, where the Israel-Hamas war has caused a humanitarian crisis.

"I said to him I'd love you to take on more because I'm looking at the whole Gaza Strip right now and it’s a mess, it's a real mess. I'd like him to take people," Trump said about his call with Jordan's King Abdullah II earlier in the day.

Trump said he would also speak with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi on Sunday, adding: "I'd like Egypt to take people."

"You're talking about, probably a million and a half people, and we just clean out that whole thing and say, 'You know it's over'."

Before the war in Gaza began, the territory had a population of around 2.4 million people. A majority of them have been displaced by the conflict.

https://p.dw.com/p/4pdSp
Skip next section Trump lifts Biden's hold on 2,000-pound bombs for Israel
January 26, 2025

Trump lifts Biden's hold on 2,000-pound bombs for Israel

US President Donald Trump has lifted his predecessor's hold on the provision of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel.

"A lot of things that were ordered and paid for by Israel, but have not been sent by Biden, are now on their way!" Trump posted on his Truth Social platform. 

The announcement had been widely expected.

Last year, the administration of then-President Joe Biden halted the delivery of those bombs due to concern about the impact they could have on the civilian population, particularly in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

One 2,000-pound bomb can rip through thick concrete and metal, creating a wide blast radius.

Washington has announced billions of dollars worth of assistance for Israel since the war with militant group Hamas began in October 2023.

A ceasefire went into effect in Gaza a week ago, leading to the release of some Israeli hostages held by Hamas in return for Palestinian prisoners held in Israel's jails.

Israel and Hamas test borders during hostage release

ess/nm (Reuters, AP, AFP, dpa) 

https://p.dw.com/p/4pdSm