TEL AVIV, July 9. /TASS/. Israel is not going to withdraw troops from the security zone in southern Lebanon until Hezbollah’s military wing lays down its weapons, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said.
"It is our right and our duty to protect the residents of the Galilee and the citizens of Israel from the threats posed by the jihadist terrorist organization Hezbollah, which seeks to destroy the State of Israel," the Ynet news portal quoted him as saying. "We will continue to remain in the security zone in Lebanon and will operate from it for as long as necessary, until Hezbollah is disarmed throughout Lebanon and the threat to the residents of the north is removed."
In his words, Israel "did not ask permission from any party to enter Lebanon, and we do not need permission to remain in Lebanon." According to Ynet, the remarks came in response to US President Donald Trump, who earlier said Israel would withdraw troops from Lebanon under the previously reached agreements.
Taking reporters’ questions during a meeting with Syrian President for the Transitional Period Ahmed al-Sharaa, Trump said that Israel plans to withdraw its troops from southern Lebanon. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio explained that an agreement on the issue has been reached.
On June 26, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, alongside the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors to Washington, announced that the parties had reached a framework agreement after five rounds of talks. Under the agreement, the Lebanese armed forces will gradually "restore effective sovereign authority over all Lebanese territory." Non-state armed groups are to be disarmed, while their military infrastructures dismantled, which is expected to create conditions for the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon.