Israel vows to hold Lebanon territory indefinitely, defying US-Iran peace deal

Israel Defies US-Iran Deal, Vowing to Keep Troops in Lebanon Indefinitely

Hours after the United States and Iran announced a framework agreement to end their months-long conflict, Israel declared it would not withdraw from territories seized in Lebanon, setting up a direct challenge to the newly brokered peace deal.

Israel Draws a Line

Defense Minister Israel Katz said Monday that the Israel Defense Forces would remain “indefinitely” in security zones in Lebanon, Syria, and the Gaza Strip, marking the first official Israeli response to the deal announced Sunday by Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who served as a key mediator. Katz said he and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are leading “a clear policy” under which the military will hold its positions and destroy all terrorist infrastructure in the areas it controls.apnews

Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir went further, declaring that “Trump’s agreement does not bind us” and that Israel was “not party to this agreement”. Opposition Leader Yair Lapid also criticized the deal, saying it “doesn’t achieve any of Israel’s war goals”.republicworld

The Deal’s Terms and Israel’s Exclusion

The memorandum of understanding, brokered by Pakistan with support from Qatar and Turkey, calls for “the immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon,” according to Sharif’s announcement on X. The agreement is set to be formally signed on June 19 in Switzerland. It includes the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, the lifting of the U.S. naval blockade on Iranian ports, and the phased release of frozen Iranian assets in exchange for Iran’s compliance with nuclear restrictions.cnbc

Israel was entirely excluded from the bilateral negotiations. Analysts have noted that the agreement appears to defer key Israeli security concerns — including Iran’s ballistic missile program and its support for proxy groups like Hezbollah — to later discussions. President Trump had previously assured Netanyahu that he would insist on Iran dismantling its nuclear program, but the current framework postpones nuclear negotiations to a 60-day period.reuters

A Familiar Pattern of Defiance

Israel’s refusal to withdraw from Lebanon is not new. Even before the US-Iran deal, Katz had repeatedly vowed that troops would remain in southern Lebanon as long as Hezbollah posed a threat. Trump himself warned on Saturday that Israeli strikes in Beirut had temporarily delayed the agreement, telling reporters the attack “should not have happened”. Iran has signaled that continued Israeli aggression in Lebanon would collapse the fragile process, leaving the deal’s fate uncertain as the June 19 signing approaches.npr