UNIFIL denies asking Lebanese army to evacuate southern border positions

By Ahmed Asmar

ANKARA (AA) - The UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon (UNIFIL) on Monday denied that it had asked the Lebanese army to leave its positions in the country's south in the face of a seemingly imminent Israeli ground offensive.

According to the official Lebanese National News Agency, UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti denied that the UN peacekeeping mission had asked the Lebanese army to evacuate its positions on the southern borders under a request from Israel.

Earlier, eyewitnesses told Anadolu that the Lebanese army had repositioned its forces at several locations along southern borders with Israel.

Israeli Channel 12 reported that the Israeli army fired intensive artillery at southern Lebanon and is on high alert for potential ground maneuvers there.

Israel’s army on Monday announced it had established a closed military zone near the borders with Lebanon as part of preparations for its expected ground offensive into southern Lebanon.

Since Sept. 23, Israel has launched massive airstrikes against what it calls Hezbollah targets across Lebanon, killing more than 960 people and injuring over 2,770 others, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

Several Hezbollah leaders have been killed in the assault, including the group’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah.

Hezbollah and Israel have been engaged in cross-border warfare since the start of Israel's war on Gaza, which has killed nearly 41,600 people, most of them women and children, following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas last October.

The international community has warned that Israeli attacks in Lebanon could escalate the Gaza conflict into a wider regional war.