Defense Minister draws sharp rebuke from US, Beirut for saying IDF won’t honor commitment to withdraw from south Lebanon

Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz came under strong criticism from the U.S. as well as the Lebanese government on Thursday, after comments in which he appeared to dismiss the U.S.-brokered agreement with Beirut to withdraw Israeli troops from southern Lebanon.

A senior U.S. State Department official briefed several media outlets, stressing that Washington “expects all parties to act in a manner consistent with the framework they agreed to. Israel has clearly stated that it has no territorial ambitions in Lebanon,” the official said.

During a visit to the security zone, Katz had stated that “under no circumstances will we withdraw from the security zones: not in Lebanon, not in Syria, and not in Gaza.”

This runs directly counter to the agreement made by Israel, under whose terms the IDF will withdraw gradually as the Lebanese army deploys in areas vacated by Israeli troops, with the ultimate goal of depriving Hezbollah of any control or presence in the area.

A few weeks ago, both sides launched a pilot to test this process in two zones, and negotiations between Beirut and Jerusalem continued in Italy under U.S. mediation in recent weeks.

“The framework clearly includes a conditions-based path for a gradual withdrawal, tied to the verified disarmament of Hezbollah and the dismantling of its infrastructure,” the official said.

“A permanent military presence in southern Lebanon is inconsistent with the commitments made under the understandings, as well as with the long-term peace and security of both countries,” the U.S. official added, emphasizing that the U.S. “fully supports Lebanon's territorial integrity and sovereignty.”

Katz has drawn repeated criticism in recent days for several moves that were broadly seen as part of his campaign in the Likud Party’s internal elections, despite securing one of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s reserved slots on the list.

On Wednesday, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun vowed that, at the end of the talks with Israel, “we will not allow Israel to remain on even a single inch of our land, nor will we allow a single Israeli soldier to remain on our soil.”

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam slammed Israel’s actions in the areas still under its control, characterizing the demolitions of Hezbollah infrastructure as wanton destruction.

“What Israel is doing… through attacks, incursions, and systematic bulldozing and destruction of homes, residential neighborhoods, infrastructure, government buildings, and places of worship—constitutes a grave violation of the principles and rules of international law and international humanitarian law,” he charged.

“Claiming that villages and towns, with their homes, neighborhoods, government offices, public facilities, places of worship, and infrastructure, are entirely ‘military facilities’ is an assertion that does not hold up to any logic and cannot serve as a cover for their destruction, the displacement of their inhabitants, and preventing them from returning to them,” said Salam.

Katz had ordered the broad-scale demolition of large parts of villages and towns adjacent to the Israeli border, which had been used as humanitarian shields and launch pads for attacks by Hezbollah terrorists.

Speaking at Beaufort Castle, Katz said that “the lesson of October 7 is that we protect the residents by having the IDF here, in these places, protecting them from raids, gunfire, and everything else. This is our policy; this is our doctrine. The Beaufort fortress illustrates more than anything the meaning of this policy: we are up here, they are down there, the residents are protected.”

“We are destroying the underground infrastructure and all the terrorist infrastructure they built with Iranian backing in order to invade the Galilee, and we are destroying all the houses in the area.”