Israel will continue to strike Lebanon for the time being and will not withdraw from the south, Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Thursday, after Lebanon and Israel agreed to a ceasefire contingent on Hezbollah halting attacks. The United States announced that Lebanon and Israel had agreed to implement a ceasefire following a meeting in Washington between Lebanese and Israeli officials. However, Iran-backed Hezbollah is not a party to the talks and has yet to comment on the agreement.
Iran's Stance and Continued Airstrikes
The commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards Quds Force, which established Hezbollah in 1982, stated that "the minimum demand of the resistance" is Israel's withdrawal to positions held before the war began and the invasion of the south. Israel carried out numerous airstrikes in southern Lebanon on Thursday, security sources said. Lebanon's National News Agency reported five people killed in airstrikes in the town of Sohmor. A drone buzzed over Beirut. The Israeli military, in a warning to residents of the south, said it was continuing to target Hezbollah facilities.
The war has ground on despite several ceasefires declared from Washington since April. Hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel reignited on March 2, when the group opened fire in support of Tehran as it came under U.S.-Israeli attack. The war has become a sticking point in diplomacy towards resolving the regional conflict. Tehran has demanded an end to Israeli attacks in Lebanon as part of any deal.
Lebanese President's Remarks
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said the statement issued in Washington was "a final opportunity to secure a comprehensive and permanent ceasefire." Lebanon would convey its position to the U.S. once it receives responses from relevant domestic parties, particularly Hezbollah, he said.
A statement released by the U.S. State Department said the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire was contingent on Hezbollah completely halting fire and the evacuation of all its operatives from the area between the border and the Litani River. It made no reference to any Israeli withdrawal from the south, where Israel has seized a self-declared security zone, saying it aims to protect northern Israel from attacks.
Israeli Forces Remain in Security Zone
In a statement, Katz said Israeli forces would remain in the security zone, including the area of Beaufort castle seized by Israeli forces at the weekend, "and without the return of the population." Israel "will, for the time being, continue its fire and operations on the ground," he said. Israel's campaign has forced some 1.2 million people to flee their homes, including hundreds of thousands from southern Lebanon, Lebanese authorities say. Most are Shi'ite Muslims.
The joint statement said Lebanon and Israel agreed "to swiftly advance the creation of pilot zones in which the Lebanese Armed Forces will take exclusive control of the territory to the exclusion of all non-state actors." The Lebanese army deployed into the south as part of a ceasefire agreed in November 2024 to end the last Hezbollah-Israel war, and declared in January that it had established control over the area between the border and the Litani.
Political Tensions and Reactions
President Aoun, a Maronite Christian, and Lebanon's Sunni Muslim Prime Minister Nawaf Salam have been seeking Hezbollah's peaceful disarmament for a year, fuelling tension with the group. Hezbollah has demanded Beirut quit the Washington talks. Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir called the ceasefire a "serious mistake" and called for a cabinet vote. Ben-Gvir said that Hezbollah would not withdraw its fighters from the area south of the Litani River and that the Lebanese Armed Forces were incapable of forcing Hezbollah to comply.
Netanyahu has come under pressure from political opponents and some allies who say he has ceded sovereignty in yielding to the U.S. Katz said Israel would continue to "dismantle terrorist infrastructure in the area" while Israel had "freedom of action, backed by the U.S., to strike in Beirut in response to attacks on Israeli communities and territory." A U.N. peacekeeper in Lebanon died on Thursday from wounds sustained when mortar shells hit his position near Marjayoun in southeastern Lebanon late the previous night, the U.N. peacekeeping mission UNIFIL said.
