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 Israel Defense Forces (IDF) will, for the time being, remain at the outposts in Lebanon “so we can continue to defend our residents and to make sure there’s no immediate threat,” Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, an IDF spokesperson, said on Monday. Israel’s military identified the handful of strategic locations in southern Lebanon overlooking northern Israeli communities.

Israel and Hezbollah ended a year-long war in November, in a ceasefire brokered in part by the United States. A deadline for Israel to withdraw, originally set for January, was extended to February 18 at Israel’s request.

Around 60,000 Israelis were forced from their homes in the north of the country after Hezbollah attacked Israel in solidarity with Hamas, in October 2023. Few of them have returned to border towns that have been devastated by rocket fire. A year-long, low-level conflict culminated last fall with an Israeli invasion and bombing campaign that saw more than a million Lebanese civilians displaced from their homes.

“Based on the current situation, we will leave small amounts of troops deployed temporarily in five strategic points along the border,” Shoshani said. “We are committed to the agreement of the ceasefire. We think it’s a good process.” He declined to say whether Lebanon’s government had agreed to the extension, saying only that the Israeli government had spoken with the ceasefire’s mediators, led by the US.

Publicly, Lebanese leaders have been scathing. Nabih Berri, the speaker of Lebanon’s parliament, said in a Thursday statement that the US had informed him of Israel’s plan, which he rejected on Lebanon’s behalf.

“I refused to talk about any deadline to extend the withdrawal period,” he said, according to Lebanon’s official news agency NNA. “And it is the responsibility of the Americans to impose the withdrawal.” He added that if Israel remains in those locations, it “means that the Israelis will practice freedom of movement and aggression in Lebanon, and this is unacceptable.”

Israel has accused the Lebanese government of failing to uphold its side of the ceasefire agreement, by failing to adequately deploy south of the Litani River – an area from which both Israel and Hezbollah are supposed to withdraw.

The IDF has, on occasion, continued to bomb Hezbollah targets during the ceasefire, accusing the Iran-backed militant group of using military sites in violation of the November agreement. It has also continued, on a near-daily basis, to destroy buildings in southern Lebanon in an effort, the military says, to destroy Hezbollah infrastructure. The efforts have left many of southern Lebanon’s towns in ruins.

The US military, which along with the United Nations and France runs a body to administer the ceasefire and discuss disputes, has been vague – stopping short of confirming that Israel would uphold its withdrawal commitment. In a statement on Friday, Maj. Gen. Jasper Jeffers said that the Lebanese Armed Forces “will control all population centers in the Southern Litani Area before next Tuesday.”

Jeffers has in recent weeks praised the Lebanese military, saying that their “checkpoints and patrols operate effectively,” and that it was providing for stability and security.

Naim Qassem, who assumed the post of Hezbollah secretary-general after Israel assassinated his predecessor, Hassan Nasrallah, in a massive bomb attack last September, said that there were “no excuses” for Israel’s failure to withdraw.

“This is the agreement,” he said in an address on Sunday. “The Lebanese state must take a firm stance and say no – because if Israel remains in any occupied area after that date, it will be in violation of the agreement.”

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Thursday that his country put together a proposal for United Nations peacekeepers to replace Israeli forces at key points in Lebanon, Reuters reported. This was meant to ensure that Israeli troops leave Lebanon by the February 18 deadline.

Eugenia Yosef, Nadeen Ebrahim and Pauline Lockwood contributed to this report.

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex has relaunched her lifestyle brand, naming it As Ever and unveiling a new website featuring what appears to be a rare photo of her daughter, Lilibet.

The former “Suits” star announced the news in a post on Instagram Monday.

“I’m shocked we’ve kept this a secret for so long. In two weeks my show is coming out, which I’m so excited for. And also my business, which I think there’s been a lot of curiosity about,” she said in a video on the social platform.

“Last year, I had thought, ‘American Riviera, that sounds like such a great name.’ It’s my neighborhood, it’s a nickname for Santa Barbara, but it limited me to things that were just manufactured and grown in this area.”

She said she’d secured the new business name in 2022 and had been waiting to share the news publicly.

“It’s called As Ever. As Ever essentially means as it’s always been and if you followed me since 2014 with The Tig, you know I’ve always loved cooking and crafting and gardening. This is what I do and I haven’t been able to share it with you in the same way for the past few years. But now I can,” she added.

The Duchess of Sussex unveiled the first product from American Riviera Orchard in April 2024, sending jars of strawberry jam to influencers and friends.

Yet information on the brand has remained limited since, with a sparse website and an Instagram account featuring just nine posts that together form a large version of its logo.

Meghan assured followers on Monday that there will continue to be fruit preserves as part of As Ever, saying, “I think we’re all clear at this point that jam is my jam.”

The As Ever news comes two weeks before the launch of “With Love, Meghan,” the Netflix lifestyle series produced by and starring the duchess.

A sun-soaked tribute to breezy Southern California living, the series was scheduled to launch on January 15. However, it was delayed until March 4 due to the deadly wildfires that devastated the region early this year.

Her new series is produced, in part, by Archewell Productions, her company with Prince Harry.

Netflix has worked with the couple on other nonfiction series, including “Harry & Meghan,” which peeled back the curtain on their relationship with the royal family and their move to the United States after they stepped down from their royal duties.

The duchess also revealed in her post on Monday that Netflix had become a partner in her business.