Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Thursday that Israel will maintain its military presence in southern Lebanon as long as the Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorist group poses a threat.
“We will restore security and prosperity to the communities of the North. This requires maintaining the security zone in southern Lebanon; it requires that we do not withdraw from there as long as Israel’s security needs demand it,” Prime Minister Netanyahu said at a public event near Jerusalem.
The Israeli Prime Minister lauded the success of the joint U.S.-Israel strike, saying “we achieved tremendous accomplishments against the Axis of Evil of Iran and its proxies.” As part of the military operation, “we also dismantled the Axis of Evil, the strangling noose that Iran tried to create around us,” Prime Minister Netanyahu said. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) deployed in Lebanon “fended off the threat of a ground invasion from our communities and shattered Hezbollah’s missile power,” he noted.
The statement comes a day after the U.S. and Iran signed an initial agreement, widely reported as the 14-point memorandum of understanding (MOU), that calls for an “immediate and permanent termination” of Israeli counter-terrorism operations and withdrawal from Hezbollah-controlled southern Lebanon. The Jerusalem Post, on Thursday, reported that “tensions escalated between Jerusalem and Washington over a US-Iran agreement that calls for an end to hostilities in Lebanon and a full Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territory.”
Media reports suggest that Israel is under mounting diplomatic pressure from the U.S. and European powers to submit to Tehran’s dictates. “Britain’s international development minister Jenny Chapman calls for Israel to withdraw from southern Lebanon,” The Times of Israel reported Thursday.
President Trump aired his differences with Israel on Wednesday, questioning the scale of its military retaliation against Hezbollah terrorists. “We have a little dispute over Lebanon,” he told reporters at the G7 Summit in France. “I say, ‘You can do a little softer touch, Bibi. You don’t have to knock down a building every time somebody walks into it that’s from Hezbollah.’”
The IDF released a map Thursday showing Israeli troop positions in southern Lebanon’s Security Zone. “Due to operational requirements, the IDF is deployed in the Security Zone, approximately 10 kilometers inside Lebanese territory,” the military disclosed in a statement Thursday. “IDF soldiers are stationed in the designated area of operation in southern Lebanon, and will continue to remove threats and strengthen the defense of Israel’s northern residents.”
On Thursday afternoon, Hezbollah renewed its attack on IDF troops in southern Lebanon. “A short while ago, the Israeli Air Force intercepted several rockets launched toward IDF soldiers operating in southern Lebanon. Several additional rockets fell adjacent to the soldiers,” the military announced. “No injuries were reported.”
On Wednesday night, the IDF struck a Hezbollah launcher used for firing rockets toward Israel. “A few minutes after the Hezbollah terrorist organization launched rockets toward IDF soldiers, the Israeli Air Force struck the launcher, which was loaded and ready to fire additional rockets,” the military revealed. “As a result of the strike, additional rockets were launched from the launcher and fell in open areas in southern Lebanon.”
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