Hezbollah leader Sheikh Naim Qassem said Monday that Israel should withdraw from the occupied border areas in southern Lebanon, rejecting the extension of the cease-fire arrangements to Feb. 18.

Lebanese Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem said on Monday that the group would not accept any justifications to extend the period for Israeli troops' withdrawal from southern Lebanon. "What comes after the period given for Israel's withdrawal?

With a new administration in Washington and a renewed focus on the West Bank, it is in Israel’s interests to maintain the ceasefire in Lebanon. Israel and Lebanon agreed to a ceasefire in late November 2024 to end more than a year of fighting.

Palestinian militants began handing over three Israeli hostages in Gaza in return for 110 Palestinian prisoners to be freed under a phased agreement that halted fighting in the shattered coastal territory earlier this month.