Israel's military will remain in Lebanon as ceasefire deadline nears

Under the ceasefire deal agreed to in November, Jerusalem was to begin withdrawing troops from its northern neighbor - where it launched operations last fall in an effort to dismantle Hezbollah - and have all troops removed within 60 days. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said in a statement Friday, "Since the ceasefire agreement has not yet been fully enforced by the Lebanese government, the gradual withdrawal process will continue, in full coordination with the United States.

"All parties share the goal of ensuring Hezbollah does not have the ability to threaten the Lebanese people or their neighbors. To achieve these goals, a short, temporary ceasefire extension is urgently needed," White House National Security Council spokesperson Brian Hughes told the outlet. 

"We are pleased that the IDF has started the withdrawal from the central regions, and we continue to work closely with our regional partners to finalize the extension," he added.

The news that Israel may not be pulling all troops from Lebanon by the intended Jan. 26, 2025 deadline first emerged on Thursday. 

Hezbollah, in return, issued a statement and called on the Lebanese government and the nations that helped broker the truce, including the U.S. and France, "to move effectively" to "[ensure] the implementation of the full withdrawal and the deployment of the Lebanese army to the last inch of Lebanese territory and the return of the people to their villages quickly."

The statement urged governments "not to give room to any pretexts or arguments to prolong the occupation."

According to Israeli government spokesperson David Mencer, "There have been positive movements where the Lebanese army and UNIFIL [United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon] have taken the place of Hezbollah forces, as stipulated in the agreement."

However, these movements in southern Lebanon "have not been fast enough, and there is much more work to do," he told reporters on Thursday, according to Reuters. 

Israeli reports on Friday suggested that Jerusalem had petitioned the Trump administration to grant it a 30-day extension on fully withdrawing its forces from its northern neighbor. 

Fox News Digital could not immediately reach the White House, State Department or Lebanese government for comment.