Lebanon asked U.S., France to press Israel to halt truce breaches

3/12/2024 19:53

        Top Lebanese officials have urged Washington and Paris to press Israel to uphold a ceasefire, after dozens of military operations on Lebanese soil that Beirut has deemed violations, two senior Lebanese political sources told Reuters on Tuesday.
        
        Deadly Israeli strikes on south Lebanon and Hezbollah rocket launches on an Israeli military post on Monday have put a U.S.-brokered ceasefire between the two in an increasingly fragile position less than a week after it came into effect.
        
        Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri, a close Hezbollah ally who negotiated the deal on behalf of Lebanon, spoke to officials at the White House and French presidency late Monday and expressed concern about the state of the ceasefire, the sources said.
        
        U.S. State Department spokesperson Matt Miller told reporters on Monday that the ceasefire "is holding" and that the U.S. had "anticipated that there might be violations".
        
        The truce came into effect on Nov. 27 and prohibits Israel from conducting offensive military operations in Lebanon while requiring Lebanon to prevent armed groups, including Hezbollah, from launching attacks on Israel. It gives Israeli troops 60 days to withdraw from south Lebanon.