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Israel to continue holding areas in southern Lebanon it has taken — defense minister

Israel Katz acknowledged that the new security zone south of the Litani River in southern Lebanon has not yet been demilitarized and pledged that "it will be cleared through a diplomatic arrangement or by returning to fighting" after the ceasefire expires

TEL AVIV, April 17. /TASS/. The Israeli army will continue holding all the areas they have taken in southern Lebanon, Defense Minister Israel Katz said, commenting on the ceasefire in Lebanon.

"The IDF (Israel Defense Forces - TASS) holds and will continue to hold all the areas it has cleared and captured. The goal we defined — dismantling Hezbollah’s weapons through military or diplomatic means — was and remains the objective of the campaign, to which we are committed," he said in a video address released by his press service.

He acknowledged that the new security zone south of the Litani River in southern Lebanon has not yet been demilitarized and pledged that "it will be cleared through a diplomatic arrangement or by returning to fighting" after the ceasefire expires.

A 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon took effect earlier on April 17. According to the Galei Zahan radio station, the agreement was preceded by hours-long non-stop shelling attacks on northern Israel. US President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that Israel and Lebanon had agreed to a ceasefire. According to him, he spoke over the phone with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and "these two leaders have agreed that in order to achieve peace between their countries, they will formally begin a 10-day ceasefire at 5 p.m. EST (9 p.m. GMT - TASS).".

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