Lebanon calls on UN to push Israeli troop withdrawal

CGTN Europe

Lebanon is seeking support from the United Nations to compel Israel to withdraw its military to internationally recognized borders.   CGTN’s Jonathan Regev is in Tel Aviv.   #Israel #Lebanon

Transcript

00:00There are five specific points which are right on the Israel-Lebanon border but on the Lebanese

00:04side these are strategic points high above the ground and they overlook both Israel and

00:10Lebanon.

00:11What Israel is saying is that if Israel withdraws and until the Lebanese army can prove that

00:17it can actually curb Hezbollah and not allow the Shia organization back, Israel simply

00:24wants to keep a presence in those very strategic places.

00:28They overlook Israel meaning if Hezbollah is there they could quite easily target both

00:33Israeli communities and the Israeli army and they also overlook Lebanon meaning that the

00:38Israeli presence there could help Israel monitor whatever is happening inside Lebanese territory

00:43both what the Lebanese army is doing and more importantly what Hezbollah is doing and regarding

00:50the conflict, yes, there's always the potential for it to escalate.

00:54It will most probably not happen until this coming Sunday.

00:56Why so?

00:57Why Hezbollah is planning to hold the funeral of its former leader Hassan Nasrallah.

01:02It's meant to be a major event in Beirut and Hezbollah will surely want to keep things

01:07calm and quiet until that.

01:10After Sunday anything can happen when it comes to Israel and Hezbollah.

01:14There's always potential for escalation especially in such a case.

01:19Jonathan Israel says it's establishing a government body for the voluntary departures of Palestinians

01:26from Gaza.

01:27Yes, there are many parts in the Israeli government especially the far-right elements which were

01:31very enthusiastic to embrace the Trump plan and as far as they're concerned and the people

01:37that are holding the ministerial posts, Israel should actually prepare a plan to facilitate

01:41that to make sure it is happening.

01:44Is that plan even realistic?

01:47I'm not sure everybody in Israel thinks so, not sure everybody in the Trump administration

01:52thinks so.

01:53Once the US president made it public, some elements in the Israeli government are already

01:59setting up plans for this to happen.

02:03Way before that, we're still in the first phase of the ceasefire and just in the last

02:07hour, confirmation both from Israel and Hamas has come to the fact that the six remaining

02:12living hostages will be freed this coming Saturday.

02:17The six remaining hostages in the first phase of the ceasefire, instead of doing it in two

02:25separate times, two separate Saturdays, it is meant to happen all of it.

02:28This coming Saturday, two days prior to that on Thursday, she's getting very close to its

02:35end.

02:36Also we just heard from a Qatari official saying that negotiations for the second phase

02:40have not begun yet.

02:41So of course Israelis are very happy to see more and more hostages coming back, whether

02:46alive or even if it is dead bodies, will the agreement go on, will there be a second

02:51phase?

02:52A lot of people are skeptic about that.

Category

Transcript

Recommended