Lebanon PM says Beirut working for 'complete Israeli withdrawal'

Beirut is working towards a "complete Israeli withdrawal" from areas it occupies, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said on Wednesday on a visit to a village where Lebanon's army recently deployed.

"We will continue mobilising our political and diplomatic efforts to secure a complete Israeli withdrawal from the south," he said in Zawtar al-Gharbiya.

The Lebanese military had begun deploying in the village on Tuesday. Israeli forces were previously present on its outskirts.

Salam made his statement a day after Lebanese President Joseph Aoun met with his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump at the White House, where Aoun said he "stressed the urgent need for a full Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territory."

Under the agreement signed last month, Lebanon's army is meant to disarm Hezbollah in the "pilot zones" it will operate in, banning military activity from any non-state group to pave the way for future Israeli withdrawals from other areas.

The group has repeatedly rejected the agreement and refuses to lay down its weapons.

However, the military said on Tuesday that Israeli forces "opened fire in the vicinity of these units," adding that the incident would hinder the deployment.

The Israeli military said it had only fired "warning shots into the air" after Lebanese soldiers entered an area that was "not part of the pilot area.”

AFP