Jerusalem (Xinhua): Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Thursday that Israeli forces would remain in Lebanon until Hezbollah is fully disarmed, contradicting U.S. President Donald Trump’s statement that Israeli troops would withdraw from southern Lebanon.
“We did not ask permission from any party to enter Lebanon, and we do not need permission to remain in Lebanon,” Katz said in a statement released by his office.
He said Israeli troops would remain in southern Lebanon “as long as needed, until Hezbollah is disarmed throughout Lebanon.”
Katz said Israeli troops had established what he described as “a strong security zone in Lebanon,” adding that the forces hold an area stretching from the Mediterranean Sea in the west to Beaufort Castle, near Arnoun in southern Lebanon, and the approaches to Mount Hermon in the east.
He said Israel had “cleared” the area of residents and militant infrastructure, “both above and below ground,” to protect residents of the Galilee in northern Israel from “the danger of raids, anti-tank fire and direct threats.”
Katz’s remarks came after Trump told reporters at the NATO summit in Ankara on Wednesday that he believed Israeli troops would withdraw from southern Lebanon after discussions with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“Yeah, they’ll leave. And I think it’s going to work out very well,” Trump said.
A ceasefire agreed in November 2024 ended more than a year of cross-border fire between Israel and Hezbollah, but Israel has continued to carry out strikes in Lebanon.
Fighting flared again in early March 2026, amid the Iran war, with Hezbollah firing rockets at northern Israel and Israel invading southern Lebanon with ground troops.
On June 26, the governments of Israel and Lebanon reached a U.S.-mediated security agreement, under which Israel is to hand over two areas to the Lebanese army.
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