Conflict erupted last year between Israel and the Iran-backed terror group Hezbollah in Lebanon, though the fierce fighting was ended in November with a tentative ceasefire agreement.

Part of that agreement involves Israeli troops vacating occupied portions of southern Lebanon by a deadline next month, and despite Israel asking for an extension of that deadline, President Donald Trump has reportedly denied that request, according to Newsmax.

Israel insists that it needs more time to ensure that Hezbollah doesn't return as a threat once Israel turns the occupied territory over to the Lebanese Army, but one of Trump's envoys to the region made it clear that the February 18 deadline is a "firm date" that will not be changed.

No extension of withdrawal date for Israel

Last year, while Israel battled the Iran-backed terror group Hamas in Gaza on its southern flank, the Jewish nation was harassed with attacks from Hezbollah on its northern border with Lebanon, which triggered a series of devastating attacks on the terror group and a small-scale invasion of southern Lebanon to clear out Hezbollah strongholds in the hills overlooking northern Israel.

Per a ceasefire deal brokered by the outgoing Biden-Harris administration in November, the fighting was largely halted with an understanding that Israeli troops would withdraw from the Lebanese hills and return to their side of the border no later than January 26, at which point Lebanese troops would take over.

However, The Times of Israel reported that Israel expressed concerns that the Lebanese Army was not prepared to take over and could not ensure that Hezbollah would not return, and a last-minute request for a deadline extension was approved by President Trump, with the new date set for February 18.

Israeli concerns remain, however, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly asked for yet another extension past February's date and an allowance for Israeli troops to continue occupying at least five strategic locations near the border in southern Lebanon to help create a Hezbollah-free buffer zone.

Yet, an unnamed U.S. official told the Times that Trump rejected Netanyahu's request for a second extension and is insistent that Israel must withdraw from Lebanese territory now later than the established date of February 18.

Trump sent a top envoy to the region

That report from The Times of Israel comports with what the Middle East's Al-Monitor reported last week following a visit to both Lebanon and Israel by Morgan Ortagus, President Trump's deputy special envoy to the Middle East.

In what was her first foreign trip in her new role, Ortagus traveled to Beirut last week to speak with top Lebanese leaders about efforts to keep Hezbollah and its allies from participating in the Lebanese government or remerging as a threat against both the Israeli and Lebanese people.

Per the Times, she then traveled to Israel to speak with Israeli leaders about the ceasefire and also personally surveyed the areas of contention on both sides of the shared border with Lebanon, and by all accounts, she saw nothing that would warrant a change in the current plans.

February 18 a "firm date" for Israeli withdrawal

In a press conference last week at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, Ortagus expressed gratitude toward Israel for largely defeating Hezbollah as well as toward Lebanon for, albeit begrudgingly, cooperating with and not retaliating against Israel's targeted actions against the terror group in Lebanese territory.

She told reporters of Hezbollah's participation in Lebanon's government, "We have set clear red lines from the United States that they won’t be able to terrorize the Lebanese people, and that includes by being a part of the government. So, the end of Hezbollah’s reign of terror in Lebanon and around the world has started, and it’s over."

As for Israel's desire to remain in southern Lebanon past the deadline, Ortagus said, "So, we committed to February 18th," and added, "February 18th will be the date for redeployment whenever the Israeli -- the IDF troops -- will finish their redeployment. And of course, the LAF troops will come in behind them. So, we are very committed to that firm date."