Israel said on Monday its forces will remain in five strategic points inside Lebanon after Tuesday's deadline for their full withdrawal, an Israel Defence Forces spokesman has said. Lebanon's

Under the deal, Lebanon's military was to deploy in the south alongside United Nations peacekeepers as the Israeli army withdrew over a 60-day period that was later extended to Feb. 18.

Gaza Senior Hamas commander Mohammed Shaheen was killed on Monday in a strike in the southern city of Sidon, the Israeli army said, a day before the deadline for Israel to withdraw from Lebanon under a fragile ceasefire.

An Israeli drone strike on Monday targeted a car in Lebanon's southern port city of Sidon, killing one person, the state-run National News Agency (NNA) said. A Lebanese security source said the targeted vehicle "might have been for a military official in Hamas.

The Israeli military on Monday killed a Hamas leader in southern Lebanon's Sidon area, it said in a statement.

Under a truce arranged by Washington in November, Israeli forces were given 60 days to withdraw from southern Lebanon, where they had been fighting Iranian-backed Hezbollah rebels since early October.

Hezbollah's leader Naim Qassem said that the Lebanese government had a responsibility to "make Israel withdraw" in keeping with its commitment under the ceasefire deal to pull its troops out of the

Naim Qassem said any Israeli military presence on Lebanese soil after February 18 would be considered an occupying force.

Israel’s military has reportedly requested that it keep troops in five posts in southern Lebanon. Read more at straitstimes.com.

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