Trump admin.: IDF must completely withdraw from Lebanon by Feb. 18

The US opposes any Hezbollah integration into the new Lebanese government, saying that this is a "red line" for the Trump administration.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF, WALLA! FEBRUARY 7, 2025 15:23 Updated: FEBRUARY 7, 2025 16:03

US deputy special envoy for the Middle East Morgan Ortagus gives a statement after a meeting with the Lebanese President Joseph Aoun at the presidential palace in Baabda, Lebanon February 7, 2025. (photo credit: REUTERS/EMILIE MADI)

The Trump administration wants February 18 to be the date that Israel completes its withdrawal from southern Lebanon, US Deputy Special Envoy to the Middle East Morgan Ortagus said at a Friday press conference in Beirut.

Ortagus added that the US opposes any integration of Hezbollah into the new Lebanese government and stressed that this is a "red line" for the Trump administration.

The withdrawal of Israeli troops was supposed to take place on January 27, when the White House announced that the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah would be extended until February 18.

Lebanon said that it will continue to comply with the agreement until February 18 and that the US will begin negotiations for the return of Lebanese security prisoners in Israeli prisons who were arrested after October 7, 2023, the White House statement said.

IDF operatives in Lebanon, February 3, 2025. (credit: IDF)

IAF struck Hezbollah weaponry the day before

The day before the Trump administration announcement, the IAF had struck two military sites in Lebanon, saying that they had Hezbollah weaponry.

The IDF said that the presence of these weapons and trying to smuggle such weaponry into Lebanon through its border with Syria is a violation of the ceasefire agreement.