Israeli troops withdrew from all but five points in south Lebanon on Tuesday, allowing displaced residents to return to border villages largely destroyed in more than a year of hostilities.

U.S. tech giants have quietly empowered Israel to track and kill many more alleged militants more quickly in Gaza and Lebanon through a sharp spike in artificial intelligence and computing

Negotiations for the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal “will happen this week”, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar says, after Israel gave mixed signals about its engagement. Hamas leader in Gaza Khalil al-Hayya says four Israeli captives’ bodies will be handed over in the war-torn enclave on Thursday and six living abductees on Saturday as part of the precarious ceasefire agreement with Israel.

The Media Line's intrepid correspondents are in Israel, Gaza, Lebanon, Syria and Pakistan providing first-person reporting. [Damascus] The Justice Ministry in Syria’s transitional government has referred 87 judges from the country’s now-defunct Terrorism Court to the Judicial Inspection Department for investigation into potential disciplinary and legal violations.

A Trump administration official put the onus of Israel's withdrawal on the Lebanese Army, questioning whether its forces were up to the task of backfilling positions vacated by the Israeli military.

The IDF withdrew from border villages but stayed put in five locations that violates the ceasefire, Lebanon's top officials said.

Israeli forces pulled out of populated areas in southern Lebanon, but retained control over strategic border points as a deadline lapsed for both Israel and Hezbollah to leave the region.

The Israeli military is keeping troops at five southern Lebanese posts despite a Tuesday withdrawal deadline and Hezbollah warnings that Israel is violating a ceasefire agreement.

The Israeli army confirmed Monday that its troops will withdraw from all Lebanese border villages, but retain five strategic positions in southern Lebanon beyond the Feb. 18 cease-fire deadline.

Israel says it’s retreating from Lebanon by a Tuesday ceasefire deadline, but named five spots inside the country where soldiers will remain, drawing protest from the Lebanese government.

The strike came on the eve of the deadline for Israel’s full withdrawal from southern Lebanon under the ceasefire agreement that ended the 14-month war between Israel and Hezbollah.