Despite an international ceasefire agreement brokered between the United States and Iran that aims to halt the conflict with Hezbollah, Israel will not withdraw its military forces from Southern Lebanon, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has firmly declared. According to a report by the Times of Israel, Katz stated in a recent briefing that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and he are enforcing a joint policy under which the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) will maintain an indefinite presence in strategic security zones across Lebanon, Syria, and Gaza. The defense chief explicitly noted that this uncompromising stance is aimed at shielding Israeli border towns and communities from jihadist threats, adding that these buffer zones will be entirely cleared of local residents while all underground and surface-level militant infrastructure is systematically dismantled.
Terming the retention of these security zones as one of the IDF’s greatest achievements in the war, Katz warned that Tel Aviv will not back down regardless of mounting international pressure. Prime Minister Netanyahu has already conveyed this rigid position to US President Donald Trump and other high-ranking American officials, while Katz personally delivered the same message to US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Issuing a stern warning to Tehran, the Israeli Defense Minister emphasized that if Iran launches a direct military strike against Israel over the ongoing situation in Lebanon, Israel will retaliate with full force, reiterating that they will make no compromises on national security nor withdraw troops from the buffer zones.
