Benjamin Netanyahu Says Israel Will Stay in Southern Lebanon Until Hezbollah Threat Disappears

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited troops in southern Lebanon on Tuesday and said Israel would not leave the area until the Hezbollah threat has disappeared.

Netanyahu said, "Our position is clear: we will not leave southern Lebanon until the threat has disappeared. And as long as Hezbollah, armed, is here and threatening us, we will stay here," in a statement released by his office.

A News

The visit came days after Lebanon and Israel signed a U.S.-brokered framework agreement aimed at paving the way for a permanent ceasefire and the eventual disarmament of Hezbollah.

Kurdistan24 said Israeli forces are operating within what Israel describes as a "security zone" extending roughly 10 kilometers (six miles) inside Lebanese territory along the shared border, and that Lebanese authorities put the death toll from Israeli operations since March 2 at more than 4,200 people.

In the same period, Kurdistan24 reported the Israeli military says 38 Israeli soldiers and one civilian defense contractor have been killed.

The U.S.-brokered framework agreement described by NDTV makes any Israeli withdrawal from occupied Lebanese land conditional on Beirut disarming Hezbollah by creating "pilot zones" that the Lebanese military will take over.

NDTV quoted Netanyahu saying, "Our position is clear: we will not leave southern Lebanon until the threat has disappeared. And as long as Hezbollah, armed, is here and threatening us, we will stay here," after the deal was signed under US sponsorship.

Africtelegraph

In parallel, the Jerusalem Post said Netanyahu told soldiers that "We are very proud of what we have achieved here" and that the IDF would not leave southern Lebanon until the threat is neutralized.

The Jerusalem Post also quoted Netanyahu saying, "The most important link in the Iranian axis was here: Hezbollah," and added that he said Hezbollah possessed "150,000 missiles and rockets" with "8%" remaining.

Hezbollah rejected the framework agreement after it was signed, and i24NEWS reported Netanyahu instructed troops that "If you recognize a threat to your security, to your lives, or to your soldiers—act. Do not wait. Act."

Kurdistan24 said the framework agreement, brokered by the United States and signed in Washington on June 26, is intended to establish a permanent ceasefire and create a pathway toward comprehensive peace between Israel and Lebanon.

It also said the plan envisions the creation of "pilot zones" that will be transferred to the control of the Lebanese Armed Forces as part of a phased security arrangement.

In the Foundation for Defense of Democracies policy brief, Mark Dubowitz argued the trilateral framework signed by the United States, Israel, and Lebanon on June 26 displaced a proposed deconfliction mechanism and that the framework explicitly states that Hezbollah "will have no military or security role."

The same brief said Secretary of State Marco Rubio pointedly "Deconfliction Mechanism" Abandoned Rubio’s approach effectively shelved a Such a framework would have given an Iran-backed terrorist organization a de facto role in controlling Israel’s right to self-defense.

Dawn’s live updates also placed Lebanon’s conflict within a wider regional context, stating that "Death toll from Israeli attacks on Lebanon rises to 4,278".