Monitoring committee on Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire deal to start work within 48 hrs

Beirut, Dec 2
A five-member monitoring committee on the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon will start its work within the next 48 hours, Lebanese security sources told media.



The unnamed sources noted that the committee will be led by US General Jasper Jeffers, who recently arrived in Lebanon, with Brigadier General Edgar Lowndes from the Lebanese army representing Lebanon. Other members will include representatives from France, Israel, and the United Nations, Xinhua news agency reported on Sunday.

Israel and Hezbollah ended their nearly 14-month-long conflict as a ceasefire agreement went into effect since early Wednesday.

In preparation for the committee's work, Lebanese military sources told Xinhua that the army had documented a list of Israel's ceasefire violations, in addition to the evacuation warnings it issued for residents in southern Lebanon.

The sources added that Israel continued violations of the ceasefire deal on Sunday by shelling the Marjeyoun plain, the outskirts of Ibl al-Saqi town, and Deir Mimas and Yaroun villages. Meanwhile, it also blew up about 20 houses in Khiam, a town located in the eastern border area of southern Lebanon.

The strikes came a day after two people were killed and at least six others wounded in Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon, which the Israeli army said were carried out in response to activities that "posed a threat" to Israel.