The deputy commander of UN peacekeepers in Lebanon said Thursday that administrative issues were delaying the IDF withdrawal from Ghajar.

"The meeting was productive and the main focus was to finalize arrangements for Ghajar after the IDF withdrawal," Brigadier General L. P. Nehra said in after meeting senior Lebanese and Israel Defense Forces officers on the border.

Israel completed its withdrawal from southern Lebanon at the start of October, but IDF troops remain in the divided border village.

	Advertisement

"Minor administrative issues with relation to Ghajar residents are still pending, but UNIFIL hopes they will be solved at the next meeting early next week," the statement said.

Some 10,000 Lebanese soldiers have deployed across south Lebanon. UNIFIL, in place since 1978, has boosted its numbers from around 2,000 before the war to some 7,500 since.