Tel Aviv, Feb. 18 -- The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) will stay on in five locations in the Lebanese buffer zone, beyond the Tuesday deadline, and will use force in response to any truce violation by Hezbollah, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said.
"The IDF will remain in the Lebanese buffer zone at five control posts along the border in order to ensure protection of all Israeli villages and to counter threats from Lebanon," the minister said.
The IDF was to withdraw from southern Lebanon by February 18 under a peace agreement.
Katz said that the Israeli military had set up new outposts on the Israeli side of the border and sent reinforcements there. He insisted that Hezbollah must withdraw completely beyond the Litani River and that...