Israeli army orders Lebanese to stay away from villages not previously invaded
Al Jazeera’s verification agency Sanad has revealed that some 20 villages in southern Lebanon, not previously invaded by Israeli ground troops, are among a list of locations Israel’s military has warned residents not to return to after the ceasefire came into effect.
An Israeli army spokesperson warned residents against entering 62 villages in southern Lebanon, covering an area of about 500 square kilometres (193sq miles).
According to Sanad, only 42 of those villages had been previously invaded by Israeli ground troops, or at least witnessed clashes.
It's a buffer zone, it wouldn't surprise me if Israel extends it further to the Litani river.
Weird ceasefire where one party can dictate what happens.
Lebanese armed forces only playing ‘symbolic, political role’
Rami Khouri, a Middle East analyst and fellow at the American University of Beirut, says the Lebanese army is working under the ceasefire agreement “as an important political element for the Lebanese” people.
“The Lebanese army has never been able to play a decisive role because they’ve been deliberately kept well below the power of the Israeli army as a decision of the major Western military powers,” such as the US, France, Britain and others, Khouri told Al Jazeera.
It, however, plays a significant “symbolic, political role and … [a] practical role”.
“When Lebanese civilians see the army walking around … it makes them feel a little bit safe, it makes them feel like there is some sort of sovereign Lebanese authority,” Khouri said.
But people know this authority cannot confront Israel, he added, which is why Hezbollah “had to be born”.
EU says ceasefire in Lebanon ‘significant achievement’
In a statement, the European Union says it is now “crucial” that the ceasefire holds to guarantee the safety of civilians and to allow those internally displaced people “on both sides of the border to return to their homes”.
It said the EU and its member states are committed to “mobilising a wide range of EU instruments” to support the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers on the ground.
In the statement, the EU urged Lebanon to elect a president to start rebuilding a “strong and sovereign Lebanese State”.
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