Israel published a map on Thursday showing an expanded military control zone in southern Lebanon and said it would not rule out carrying out attacks beyond it, challenging the terms of a U.S.-Iran pact that calls for Lebanon’s sovereignty to be respected.
A senior Israeli official said Israel was holding “stubborn negotiations” with U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration over keeping its troops deployed 10 km (6.2 miles) into southern Lebanon as it pursues the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia.
An interim pact signed on Wednesday to end the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran calls for an end to fighting on all fronts, including in Lebanon, and for parties to ensure “the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Lebanon.”
Israel has rejected calls to withdraw troops from southern Lebanon, which it invaded in March in response to rocket fire by Hezbollah. Israeli attacks and the destruction of villages have killed thousands and set off a displacement crisis
Israel published a map on Thursday showing an expanded military control zone in southern Lebanon and said it would not rule out carrying out attacks beyond it, challenging the terms of a U.S.-Iran pact that calls for Lebanon’s sovereignty to be respected.
A senior Israeli official said Israel was holding “stubborn negotiations” with U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration over keeping its troops deployed 10 km (6.2 miles) into southern Lebanon as it pursues the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia.
An interim pact signed on Wednesday to end the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran calls for an end to fighting on all fronts, including in Lebanon, and for parties to ensure “the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Lebanon.”
Israel has rejected calls to withdraw troops from southern Lebanon, which it invaded in March in response to rocket fire by Hezbollah. Israeli attacks and the destruction of villages have killed thousands and set off a displacement crisis.
Hezbollah has continued to launch attacks on Israeli positions in the south this week, including with explosive drones that have killed and injured troops.
The military, which in April published a map marking its so-called buffer zone
in southern Lebanon, released a new map that shows its troops are operating several kilometres deeper into the country, including near the Hezbollah stronghold of Nabatieh north of the Litani River.
Israeli troops have been operating in some of those areas for several weeks, but the military had not yet published a map showing the expanded zone of control, which it marked in dark red in the map published on Thursday.
An Israeli military official said the military “will continue to remove threats (to) soldiers and the civilians of the State of Israel that are identified beyond the security zone,” in effect saying it could carry out attacks deeper into Lebanon.
In a televised speech on Wednesday, Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem rejected the notion of Israeli security zones in Lebanese territory.
