Israel must withdraw from Lebanon by January 26 deadline: President Aoun

Lebanon’s new president’s comments come after the UN chief called on Israel to end its ‘occupation’ of southern Lebanon.

Lebanon’s new president has demanded that Israel must withdraw from his country’s south by the January 26 deadline agreed in last year’s Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire as he met the United Nations chief visiting the country devastated by war.

“The continued Israeli violations on land and in the air, especially in terms of blowing up houses and destroying border villages, completely contradicts what was stated in the ceasefire agreement and is considered a continuation of the violation of Lebanese sovereignty and the will of the international community,” President Joseph Aoun’s office said on Saturday after his meeting with Antonio Guterres in Beirut.

Guterres has said he will “exert utmost efforts” to ensure the “secure” withdrawal of the forces within the January 26 deadline set by the agreement reached on November 27.

Guterres said a “more hopeful future” awaited Lebanon under Aoun’s leadership in which the country could become stable and a hub in the Middle East.

Aoun was selected in January after an agreement between political parties in Lebanon ended a two-year power vacuum that was further destabilising the country as it faced Israeli attacks and a turbulent economy.

The president, who is the former army chief, has also emphasised his support for the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), who are tasked with securing the southern part of the country as part of Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah.

The message delivered by Guterres in Lebanon was one of support for the new president and new Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, said Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr, reporting from Beirut.

“What Guterres is saying is that the international community will stand by them and help them in their recovery efforts. Lebanon has had a difficult few years. The economy has all but collapsed, the state is nearly bankrupt, there’s a financial crisis and the currency has lo