Israel “did not ask anyone for permission to enter Lebanon, and we do not need permission to remain in Lebanon,” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Thursday, hours after U.S. President Donald Trump said he believed Jerusalem would withdraw from the country.
“It is our right and our duty to protect the residents of the Galilee and the citizens of Israel from the threats posed by the jihadist Hezbollah terrorist organization, which seeks to destroy the State of Israel,” Katz said in a Hebrew-language statement.
The defense minister noted that the Iranian proxy had launched two unprovoked terrorist campaigns against the Jewish state—the first a day after the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, massacre, and again following the start of “Operation Roaring Lion” against the Islamic Republic of Iran on Feb. 28.
After Hezbollah’s renewed attacks on March 2, Jerusalem launched a broad aerial campaign against terror targets in Lebanon and expanded military operations aimed at preventing cross-border attacks on Israeli communities.
The Israel Defense Forces “responded with force and, over the past two and a half years, has destroyed most of Hezbollah’s capabilities and leadership, foremost among them the arch-terrorist Hassan Nasrallah, one of the architects of the plan to destroy Israel,” Katz said on Thursday.
The IDF “established a strong security zone in Lebanon, stretching from the Mediterranean coast in the west to the Beaufort Ridge and the foothills of Mount Hermon in the east,” he continued. “The area has been cleared of residents and terror infrastructure, both above and below ground, in order to protect the residents of the Galilee from the threat of cross-border raids, anti-tank missile fire and other direct threats.
As he and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “have made clear, we will continue to remain in the security zone in Lebanon and operate from it as long as necessary until Hezbollah is disarmed throughout Lebanon and the threat to the residents of northern Israel is removed,” Katz vowed.
Trump, speaking to reporters alongside Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa at a press conference in Ankara on Wednesday, said he had discussed an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon with Netanyahu.
“I talked to Bibi [Netanyahu] about that. I think they’re going to. I think they want to. I don’t think it’s a question,” the U.S. president said. “We have a deal with Israel and Lebanon, and yeah, they’ll leave.”
The June 26 framework of understandings between Jerusalem and Beirut conditions an Israeli redeployment on Hezbollah being removed from Southern Lebanon.
