Israel said it would keep its military presence in Lebanon, in clear defiance of a preliminary deal reached between the US and Iran.
While the emerging details of the US-Iran agreement include a clause on Lebanon, Israeli media reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu informed US President Donald Trump that Israel is not bound by such term.
No Withdrawal from Lebanon
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said that Israeli troops will not withdraw from Lebanon or any territory it has seized.
“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and I are pursuing a clear policy under which the (Israeli military) will remain in the security zones in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza for an unlimited period of time,” Katz said in a statement on Monday.
“The area will be cleared of local residents and all terrorist infrastructure, above and below ground — including the houses in the contact villages that served as terrorist outposts — will be destroyed,” he added.
Katz said that Israel has conveyed its position to senior US officials, including President Donald Trump and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth. “We will not compromise on Israel’s security interests and the protection of our citizens, and we will not withdraw from the security zones,” he noted.
Moreover, Katz warned that Israel will respond to any Iranian strikes related to its campaign in Lebanon “with full force.”
US-Iran Deal
The US and Iran announced a preliminary deal that halts fighting and sets a 60-day period for detailed negotiations to reach a final agreement.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that “both sides have declared the immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon.”
Lebanon has been dragged into the US-Israeli war with Iran in early March following Hezbollah’s decision to retaliate for the killing of the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei by sending barrages of missiles and drones towards Israel.
Israel responded by launching heavy airstrikes and ground operations into southern Lebanon, seizing control of large swaths of the country. In light of this, Iran has insisted that Lebanon must be included in any deal with the US.
Following an initial announcement that the deal would be signed virtually on Sunday, Israeli military struck Beirut’s southern suburbs, triggering an Iranian threat of retaliation and jeopardizing the agreement.
Fighting Will Go On
Netanyahu has informed Trump that Israel is not bound by any clause regarding Lebanon in the emerging US-Iran deal, Israeli website Ynet reported.
According to Israeli officials, Netanyahu told Trump that Israeli troops will not withdraw from Lebanon and will continue military operations against Hezbollah.
One of the officials said that Netanyahu is “standing firm and succeeding in pushing back such Iranian demands,” and the Americans understand that Israel views the issue as a nonstarter.
The Israeli outlet also noted that Netanyahu received the full backing of his cabinet ministers. Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said that Israel should respond forcefully in Lebanon following any Iranian strikes in order to avoid blame for sabotaging Trump’s deal with Tehran and preserve its freedom of action against Hezbollah.
Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir also voiced strong rejection of the US-Iran deal. In a statement on X, he said that “Trump’s agreement does not bind us. Israel is not subject to the United States, and we are an independent and sovereign nation!”
“My position is clear: We are not partners to this agreement that does not ensure our security, and it does not bind us in any way. We must not compromise on anything less than the dismantling of Hezbollah, we must not withdraw from any territory that our fighters have captured and cleared of terror infrastructure,” Ben-Gvir wrote.
Lebanon ‘Not Informed’
An official Lebanese source told AFP on Monday that Lebanon has not been informed of the terms of the US-Iran deal. “Lebanon was not informed of the terms of the agreement or the time of the ceasefire,” the source said.
While Hezbollah has not officially commented on the announced deal, the Iranian-backed group refrained from claiming any new attacks on Israel on Monday.
Meanwhile, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, the leader of Amal movement and a political ally of Hezbollah, praised the agreement for laying “the foundations for security and stability in the region, including Lebanon.”
Furthermore, Berri thanked the US and Iran for including “an essential and binding clause on halting the Israeli aggression on all of Lebanon.”
