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.

Israel has warned on Sunday that its ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah could collapse if the Iran-backed group does not withdraw beyond the Litani River, one of the key stipulations of the truce.

Visiting US envoy Amos Hochstein said Israeli forces began withdrawing on Monday from a south Lebanon border town more than halfway into a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.The Lebanese military said Monday that "army units have stationed around the town of

U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein the Israeli Army has started to withdraw from the western sector of south Lebanon and will continue to do so until completely out of Lebanon in what he described as "a successful process.

In a news conference in Lebanon following meetings with top Lebanese officials, Hochstein said these withdrawals would continue until the Israeli army was completely out of the country.

Lebanese army troops accompanied by UN peacekeepers entered the southern Lebanese town of Naqoura on Monday after Israeli troops withdrew from the area, state media and security sources said. The step came after the five-member ceasefire committee met in Naqoura in the presence of US envoy Amos Hochstein,