A senior US envoy who helped broker a truce between Israel and Hezbollah issued assurances on Monday that Israel would withdraw completely from southern Lebanon, as called for in a fragile 60-day truce agreement which stopped the bloodiest war between the two sides in decades.

Speaking to reporters in Beirut, Lebanon’s capital, envoy Amos Hochstein said Israeli troops withdrew from the southern city of Naqour on Monday. In a statement, the Lebanese army said it had redeployed in the city after the Israeli withdrawal.

“These withdrawals will continue until Israeli forces are completely out of Lebanon,” Mr. Hochstein said after a meeting with senior Lebanese officials. “Great progress has been made in recent days and I expect to see further progress in the days to come.”

Although it is the truce reached at the end of November continuesfrustration is growing among Lebanese and Israeli officials over the pace at which the cease-fire agreement is being implemented, with a deadline for meeting the terms fast approaching.

Mr. Hochstein did not specify when Israeli troops would fully withdraw from Lebanon, and it remains uncertain whether the cease-fire agreement will be fully in place by the end of the 60-day period.

The deal ended a 14-month conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, a powerful militant group in Lebanon that began firing rockets at Israel in support of a Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. Hezbollah and Hamas are backed by Iran, part of its network of regional intermediaries.

After Israel went on the offensive against Hezbollah last September, the violence killed almost 4000 people in Lebanon and displaced over a million others. The fighting also severely weakened Hezbollah, with much of its leadership erased.

Under the terms of the ceasefire, Israeli troops have until January 26 to withdraw from Lebanon. Hezbollah militants must retreat north of the Litani River in southern Lebanon in tandem, and the Lebanese army is expected to deploy along the border.

So far, however, the Israeli army has withdrawn from only three of the dozens of areas in southern Lebanon where it still maintains positions, a figure that includes Monday’s withdrawal from Naqoura, where the UN peacekeeping mission sits.

Amid accusations of ceasefire violations by both sides, Lebanon also reported to the UN Security Council that Israel had launched more than 800 “ground and air strikes” since the ceasefire took effect.

In turn, Israel’s defense minister, Israel Katz, on Sunday accused Hezbollah and the Lebanese state of not meeting the terms of the cease-fire agreement, warning that Israel could be “forced to act” if no progress is made.

“This is not an easy process to implement; it’s a difficult process,” Mr. Hochstein admitted at a press conference on Monday.

Hezbollah’s new leader, Naim Qassem, threatened in a speech on Saturday that his group could start attacking Israel again if the country’s troops are not fully withdrawn from southern Lebanon before the end of a 60-day period.

“When we decide to do something, you will see it directly,” he said.