A multinational committee that will monitor the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah is reportedly expected to begin work this week as Israel continues to carry out violations at the border.
According to Lebanese broadcaster Al Jadeed, the head of the international committee, US Major General Jasper Jeffers, will meet Lebanon's Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri in Beirut on Thursday.
Television reports added that the French member of the committee, Brigadier General Guillaume Ponchin, will arrive in Lebanon this week too.
Brigadier General Edgar Lowndes will represent Lebanon on the panel, which will also include Israel.
The committee’s first meeting is expected to be held at the UNIFIL’s headquarters in Naqoura, close to the Israeli border, on Friday or Saturday, Lebanese sources familiar with the matter said.
Jeffers met with UNIFIL General Aroldo Lazaro Saenz on Tuesday in Naqoura.
UNIFIL is the UN peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon that is deployed south of the Litani River, from where Hezbollah must pull out its fighters and heavy weaponry, according to the terms of the US-brokered deal that came into effect last week.
The deal is in line with UN Resolution 1701, adopted after the 2006 war in Lebanon but never enforced.
The Lebanese army is scheduled to deploy thousands of soldiers in southern Lebanon to maintain stability in the region. The army, along with UNIFIL, must dismantle all Hezbollah military installations and ban the presence of all arms outside state control.
According to the deal, the Israeli military has 60 days to withdraw from south Lebanon as the Lebanese Armed Forces move in simultaneously
Committee must curb violations
The Israeli military has committed countless violations since the ceasefire came into effect.
These include firing at border villages and people approaching a border zone, airstrikes, and house demolitions. The military claims it is combing the region and targeting Hezbollah personnel and installations, "no matter how big or small."
The attacks have killed civilians and at least one Lebanese army soldier.
The military has reiterated warnings everyday to residents of more than 70 border communities not to return just yet as Israeli forces remain in the area.
Israel’s prime minister, defence minister and other senior officials have all threatened to restart the war on Lebanon if Hezbollah violates the deal, vowing this time not to differentiate between the Lebanese state and the Iran-backed militant group, which acts outside of state control.
Violating the ceasefire agreement will become difficult once the committee begins its work, Lebanese sources familiar with the matter have said.
US envoy Amos Hochstein who was the key mediator in the deal had reportedly warned Israel about its continued violations, news site this week.
The official said that Israel have been "playing a dangerous game in recent days" in Lebanon. Despite this, Beirut and Tel Aviv told Washington they were .
On 8 October last year, Hezbollah started what it called a "support front" for its allies in Gaza, firing rockets at Israel. Israel dramatically escalated the conflict into a full-blown war in September, killing hundreds of civilians and forcing millions more to flee their homes.
The war has left nearly 4,000 dead in Lebanon, according to official figures by the health ministry.
Israeli airstrikes destroyed large swathes of Beirut’s southern suburbs and devastated towns and villages across southern Lebanon – at the forefront of the conflict – as well as the eastern Beqaa region.