Beirut, Lebanon. Israel’s military will continue operations in Lebanon and will not withdraw from the country for the time being, Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Thursday, despite the announcement of a new ceasefire.
Ceasefire announced
Israel and Lebanon agreed on Wednesday to a new ceasefire following talks mediated by the United States. Under the agreement, Hezbollah is to halt all attacks on Israel and withdraw its fighters from the area south of the Litani River in southern Lebanon.
Israeli military presence
Katz said in a statement that Israel’s military would remain in parts of southern Lebanon that it is occupying as part of what the Israeli government describes as a buffer zone intended to protect northern Israeli communities from Hezbollah attacks.
He said hundreds of thousands of Lebanese residents displaced from their homes in the south by Israel’s military since fighting began in March would not be allowed to return.
Katz also said Israel would continue to “dismantle terrorist infrastructure in the area” and that it had “freedom of action, backed by the United States, to strike in Beirut in response to attacks on Israeli communities and territory.”
Conflict background
Israel invaded Lebanon in March in pursuit of Hezbollah after the Iran-backed group fired across the border in support of Tehran.
The fighting in Lebanon has killed thousands of people and displaced more than a million Lebanese. It has also become a point of contention in negotiations aimed at ending the wider Iran war, with Tehran refusing to agree to any peace deal with Washington unless a ceasefire also covers Lebanon.
Reactions and next steps
Under the new agreement announced on Wednesday, the Lebanese military is expected to take exclusive control of the territory.
Hezbollah has not yet commented on the ceasefire. Before it was announced, the group said it had carried out two drone and rocket attacks on Israeli troops inside Lebanon just after midnight local time on Wednesday.
Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir on Thursday called the ceasefire a “serious mistake” and said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should bring it to the cabinet for a vote.
