Israel won’t withdraw from southern Lebanon until Hezbollah is disarmed, the Defence Minister said on Thursday (August 13, 2026), qualifying remarks he made a day earlier that had suggested Israeli forces would occupy the territory indefinitely and drew U.S. criticism.
Israel seized a swath of south Lebanon during a war with Hezbollah earlier this year and has said it will keep forces there to shield northern Israel from attack by the Iran-backed group, which ignited the latest hostilities when it opened fire at Israel two days into the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.
During a visit to southern Lebanon on Wednesday (August 12, 2026), Defence Minister Israel Katz said he and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had been “unequivocally clear” that “we are not withdrawing from this security zone”, adding, “we will cleanse this area and ensure the security of the northern residents”.
Following his statement, a U.S. State Department official said a permanent Israeli military presence in south Lebanon was not consistent with commitments set out in Israel’s U.S.-backed deal with Lebanon’s government.
