Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that Israel's military will stay in southern Lebanon, where it has occupied up to 6 miles from the border. In his first comments since the US-Iran deal was signed, Netanyahu said Israel must "maintain a security zone in southern Lebanon, and it requires that we must not leave there as long as Israel's security needs require it," the AP reports. He has made similar comments in the past about Israel's refusal to withdraw from southern Lebanon.
The US-Iran deal to end the war in the Middle East, signed overnight, also calls for an end to the war in Lebanon, where Israel has been fighting the militant Hezbollah group, but it's unclear what that means in practice. Speaking to a Hezbollah-aligned Lebanese news outlet Thursday, a spokesman for Iran's foreign ministry said a continued Israeli military presence in Lebanon would mean the "annulment" of the memorandum of understanding, the Times of Israel reports.
"It was not acceptable for us to abandon our brothers in Lebanon," the spokesman said. "We cannot talk about ending the war while parts of Lebanese territory remain under the occupation of the Zionist entity. As long as the occupation continues, it can be said that the war is still in place and has not ended in essence." President Trump has repeatedly criticized Netanyahu and Israel's military actions in Lebanon in recent weeks. Israeli sources tell Reuters that Israel is holding "stubborn" talks with the US over extending the Lebanon deployment.
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