Israeli troops withdraw from southern Lebanon village under ceasefire deal

Israeli forces withdrew Wednesday from a strategic town in southern Lebanon and were replaced by Lebanese troops as part of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and the militant group Hezbollah.

The withdrawal from Al-Khiam came two weeks after the start of the ceasefire brokered by the United States and France.

"This is an important first step in the implementation of a lasting cessation of hostilities and lays the foundation for continued progress," Gen. Erik Kurilla, head of U.S. Central Command, said in a statement.

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati called the development "a fundamental step towards strengthening the army's deployment in the south, in implementation of the ceasefire decision."

The ceasefire halted months of intensified fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, which included Israeli ground operations inside Lebanon and airstrikes that killed multiple Hezbollah leaders.

Hezbollah launched cross-border attacks against Israel in solidarity with Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip following the October 2023 Hamas attack on southern Israel.

The Pentagon said U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin discussed the ceasefire during a Wednesday phone call with Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, saying it could bring lasting calm and allow people on both sides of the Israel-Lebanon border to return to their homes.

"The secretary emphasized the U.S. commitment to securing the release of all hostages in Gaza, including U.S. citizens, and urged the government of Israel to continue to take steps to improve the dire humanitarian conditions in Gaza," Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said in a statement.

The U.N. General Assembly demanded on Wednesday an immediate and permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip as well as the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages still being held by Palestinian militants.

"The message that it is sending is that we are with you," Palestinian envoy Riyad Mansour said after the vote. He added that it shows that Israel and its main backer, the United States, are more isolated internationally over the war.

The ceasefire resolution, which had 85 cosponsors, was adopted with 158 votes in favor and nine against, including the United States and Israel.

"The vote today is not a vote for compassion," Israel’s ambassador, Danny Danon, said. "It is a vote for complicity."

He said the resolution failed to directly link the release of the remaining 100 hostages held by Hamas with the ceasefire, saying that amounted to "appeasement."

The United States blocked a similar measure with its veto at the U.N. Security Council on November 20, saying that it could not support an unconditional ceasefire that did not come with the release of hostages.

It voted against the ceasefire resolution in the General Assembly on Wednesday on similar grounds, as well as a second resolution supporting UNRWA, the embattled U.N aid agency that assists Palestinian refugees.

"Colleagues, the messages we send to the world through these resolutions matter. And both of these resolutions have significant problems," U.S. Deputy U.N. Ambassador Robert Wood told the Assembly.

"One rewards Hamas and downplays the need to release the hostages, and the other denigrates Israel without providing a path forward to increasing humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians."

The General Assembly previously has called for a ceasefire, but its resolutions, though they carry the moral weight of the majority of the international community, are nonbinding and have been ignored.

"We cannot remain silent in the face of this abhorrent situation. We must uphold our political, humanitarian and moral obligation -- I repeat -- our moral obligation," said Indonesia’s ambassador, Arrmanatha Nasir, in introducing the ceasefire proposal.

The text also demands that Palestinian civilians across Gaza be given immediate access to aid necessary for their survival.

The situation is especially dire in northern Gaza, where the U.N. says between 65,000 to 75,000 Palestinians have been largely cut off from aid deliveries for the past two months. International hunger monitors say famine is imminent there.

"This organization cannot stand idly by while thousands of innocent lives are cut short," Mexico’s ambassador, Héctor Vasconcelos, said.

In a separate vote, the 193-member assembly expressed support for UNRWA, the embattled U.N. aid agency that assists Palestinian refugees in the occupied territories and the wider Middle East.

On October 28, Israel’s parliament adopted legislation to ban the agency in Israel, potentially crippling its ability to reach millions of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. The law will go into effect in January.

More than 90 countries cosponsored the text, and 159 countries voted in favor of it, while nine voted against.

The resolution says no other agency can replace it and called on Israel "to abide by its international obligations, respect the privileges and immunities of the agency and uphold its responsibility to allow and facilitate full, rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian assistance in all its forms into and throughout the entire Gaza Strip."

The resolution also calls on Israel to pay UNRWA reparations for the dozens of schools, health centers and other facilities the agency runs that its military has bombed during the past 14 months.

"An agency we established is under threat," said Slovenian Ambassador Samuel Žbogar, referring to the General Assembly’s creation of UNRWA in 1949.

"It is an agency acting on our behalf, on behalf of the values and principles of this organization. We need to support it."

Norway’s ambassador said her country will submit a draft resolution to the assembly requesting the International Court of Justice to give an advisory opinion on Israel's obligations to facilitate humanitarian assistance and other kinds of aid to the Palestinian population, delivered by the U.N., NGOs and states.

The two resolutions voted on Wednesday received the highest margin of support of any Gaza-related motions in the General Assembly since the war started 14 months ago.

The United Nations on Wednesday appealed for just over $4 billion to address the most urgent humanitarian needs in the Palestinian territories for the next year.

Hamas set off the war with its October 7, 2023, terror attack on southern Israel during which its fighters killed about 1,200 people and took 250 hostages. Israel’s counteroffensive in Gaza has killed more than 44,800 people, according to the health ministry in Gaza.

Hamas has been designated as a terror group by the United States, United Kingdom and several other Western countries.