Israel must cease operations, end occupation of south Lebanon: UN chief

UN chief Antonio Guterres has said that Israel's military raids and occupation in south Lebanon must cease, nearly two months after the truce that ended the war with Hezbollah.

"The continued occupation by the Israel (military) inside the UNIFIL area operations and the conduct of military operations in Lebanese territory are violations of resolution 1701. They must stop," Guterres said Friday.

He was speaking on a visit to the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) headquarters in Naqura, and referring to the Security Council decision that ended a 2006 war between Israel and the Lebanese Shia group Hezbollah.

Under Resolution 1701, only the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers can be deployed in southern Lebanon.

Guterres also revealed that since the November 27 ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, UN peacekeepers had found more than 100 weapons caches in south Lebanon.

He said the "presence of armed personnel, assets and weapons" other than those of the Lebanese army and UNIFIL violated Resolution 1701.

Guterres is visiting Lebanon as the January 26 deadline approaches for full implementation of the November 27 ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel.

Under the November 27 ceasefire accord, the Lebanese army had 60 days to deploy alongside UNIFIL in south Lebanon as the Israeli army withdrew.

At the same time, Hezbollah is required to pull its forces north of the Litani River, around 30 kilometres from the border, and dismantle any remaining military infrastructure it has in the south.

A monitoring committee comprising representatives of Lebanon, Israel, France, the United States and UNIFIL is tasked with report ing any ceasefire violations.