Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said on Monday that the continued Israeli "occupation" of southern Lebanon is preventing the deployment of the Lebanese army, as the two sides prepare to implement a framework agreement providing for a gradual Israeli military withdrawal followed by the phased deployment of Lebanese armed forces. Aoun stressed, according to a statement carried by the presidency, "the importance of pressuring Israel to withdraw from the areas it occupies in Lebanon," adding that "the continued occupation undermines the state's legitimacy, prevents the army's deployment, and obstructs the foundations for achieving a just and lasting peace." Lebanon entered the war on March 2 after Hezbollah launched rockets at Israel, saying the attack was in response to the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in the first US and Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28. Israel responded with an extensive bombing campaign and a ground offensive while intensifying calls for the evacuation of large areas of southern Lebanon. Under a framework agreement reached between Lebanon and Israel in the United States on June 26, the Lebanese army is to reassert its authority across southern Lebanon, provided Hezbollah is disarmed, beginning with "pilot areas" from which Israeli forces will withdraw.
