A US State Department official said the United States expects Israel to act in accordance with the framework agreed with Lebanon, in response to comments by Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, who said that Israeli forces would not withdraw from areas they have seized in Lebanon and Syria.
The US official told Asharq that Israel had “made clear that it does not aspire to any territorial gains or objectives in Lebanon,” adding that “a permanent military presence in southern Lebanon is not consistent with the commitments made under the framework, nor with the long-term peace and security requirements of both states.”
The official stressed that the United States fully supports Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, adding: “The framework clearly includes a conditional pathway based on the phased redeployment of forces, linked to the disarmament and verification of Hezbollah and the dismantling of its infrastructure. The Lebanese Armed Forces are currently implementing the initial test areas, and the United States will continue to support the full implementation of this process.”
Since October 2023, Israel has adopted a more expansionist and aggressive military doctrine, embraced by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, seizing around 1,000 square kilometers of territory in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria.
Israeli forces have established positions in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria and taken control of territory equivalent to around 5 percent of the area of Israel’s internationally recognized 1949 borders, according to Financial Times calculations.
Katz from southern Lebanon: We will not withdraw
Katz said during a visit to a military site in southern Lebanon on Wednesday that the Israeli military would not withdraw from what he described as “security zones” in Lebanon, Syria and the Gaza Strip.
His comments came despite the framework agreement signed by Lebanon and Israel under US auspices, which provides for a gradual withdrawal, as well as continued international calls for an end to Israel’s military presence in occupied territories.
Katz said: “The Israeli army carried out a military maneuver here, and you can see the Litani River road here. The Israeli army decisively defeated Hezbollah with great skill and seized Beaufort [Castle], which protects Metula and the northern communities. Our soldiers then came to threaten all of Hezbollah’s areas of deployment on the horizon.”
He added: “As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and I have made unequivocally clear, we will not withdraw from this security zone, and I am standing here at its heart.”
