During the first five days, Israeli forces would pull out from the western sector, spanning from Ras al-Naqoura to Rmeish. The next five days would see a withdrawal from the central sector, covering Rmeish to Mays al-Jabal.

It is the second such pullout since a Nov 27 ceasefire, and came after United Nations peacekeepers and Lebanon’s prime minister late last month called on the Israeli army to speed up its withdrawal from Lebanon’s south.

With the deadline looming for the terms of a fragile cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah to be met, an American diplomat on Monday said “much progress” had been made recently.

The Biden administration in its final days is shifting more than $100 million in military aid from Israel and Egypt to Lebanon as it tries to bolster a ceasefire agreement it helped mediate between Israel and Hezbollah.

Lebanon is geared to select a new president this week as the army has made significant strides in taking over for IDF troops deployed in southern Lebanon

Israel and Hezbollah agreed to pull their forces out of southern Lebanon before the end of January. The area will then be secured by the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers, as part of the agreed conditions of the ceasefire.

An Israeli official told The Post that plans for the withdrawal of the IDF “don’t change the fact that after the ceasefire terminates, Israeli forces will need to remain in southern Lebanon.”

U.S. mediator Amos Hochstein said during the latest meeting of the ceasefire monitoring committee that Israel would withdraw within 15 days from south Lebanon’s western, central and eastern sectors, al-Akhbar newspaper reported

Hochstein confirmed that Israeli troops have started pulling back from Naqoura, a town near the U.N.-demarcated Blue Line, and returning to Israeli territory. He emphasized that the withdrawals would continue until all Israeli forces leave Lebanon, while the Lebanese Army takes over security responsibilities in coordination with U.N. peacekeepers.

Amos Hochstein's visit comes amid uncertainty over the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah as well as an upcoming presidential vote in Lebanon's parliament.

Israeli troops withdrew from the southern Lebanese town of Naqoura on Monday, amid growing accusations from both sides of major violations of the Israel, Hezbollah ceasefire.