Trump admin appears to relax Israel's deadline to withdraw from Lebanon
A Trump administration official put the onus of Israel's withdrawal on the Lebanese Army, questioning whether its forces were up to the task of backfilling positions vacated by the Israeli military.
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration on Thursday seemed to backtrack on its position that all Israeli military forces must withdraw from Lebanon by the latest deadline, Feb. 18.
On Wednesday, a senior Trump administration official told reporters that the United States had insisted to Israeli counterparts that they stick to the Feb. 18 deadline. On Thursday, however, the administration appeared to relax that stance.
Parliament speaker Nabih Berri on Thursday announced that US officials had informed him that the Israeli military will continue its withdrawal but will “remain in five points” in Lebanon beyond Feb. 18. Berri publicly said he rejected the Israeli demand on behalf of the Lebanese government.
The house speaker met earlier in the day with the US ambassador to Lebanon, Lisa Johnson, and US Army Maj. Gen. Jasper Jeffers — the commander of all US special operations forces in the Middle East who has been tasked with monitoring the Nov. 27 ceasefire.
