Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire set to be extended

The ceasefire agreement that paused the war between Israel and the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon will likely be extended when it expires next week, according to several people familiar with the matter.

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The Iran-backed group and Israel are unlikely to resume full-scale fighting despite needing more time to implement the original terms of the truce, which started in late November, according to Lebanese, Israeli and French government officials involved in ongoing talks.

The French and US-backed deal, which halted a conflict that has killed thousands of people and worsened tensions between Iran and Israel, gave Israeli troops 60 days to pull out of southern Lebanese villages.

Hezbollah was required to withdraw north of the Litani River, with the Lebanese army replacing them.

The pact was followed last week by Israel and Hamas - another Islamist militia sponsored by Iran agreeing to pause their war in Gaza.

While the Lebanon truce has broadly held since November, Hezbollah and Israel have accused each other of breaking the terms.

Israeli forces are still in at least half the villages they occupied, according to the country's officials.

Israel has kept up lethal strikes to counter what it describes as Hezbollah's attempts to regroup or rearm in the south, and in retaliation for mortar attacks.