Israel will not withdraw from territory in Lebanon, defence minister says

Israeli troops in a military vehicle patrol an area along Israel's northern border with Lebanon last week after an incident. Photograph: Atef Safadi/EPA View image in fullscreen Israeli troops in a military vehicle patrol an area along Israel's northern border with Lebanon last week after an incident. Photograph: Atef Safadi/EPA Israel will not withdraw from territory in Lebanon, defence minister says Comments by Israel Katz come after announcement of interim deal between US and Iran to end hostilities Middle East crisis – live updates Israeli military forces will not withdraw from a vast swathe of territory they have seized in southern Lebanon , the country’s defence minister has said, hours after Donald Trump and officials in Iran announced a new preliminary agreement between Washington and Tehran to end hostilities on “all fronts” in the Middle East pending a final settlement in about two months. Israel Katz’s remarks were the first official Israeli comments after the announcement of the interim deal. Iranian and US officials are to meet on Friday in Geneva for a signature ceremony, diplomatic sources in Pakistan, the principal mediator, said. The exact details of the agreement remain unclear but appear to explicitly include a ceasefire in Lebanon, where Israel launched a wide-ranging offensive after attacks on northern Israel by Hezbollah at the beginning of the 15-week-long conflict. The apparent terms of the agreement have prompted anger and concern among officials in Tel Aviv, who have fiercely resisted Iranian efforts to link its interim deal with the US to halting Israeli attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon. Headlines in Israeli media described the “abject failure” of these efforts. Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, last week said he supported Trump’s efforts to end the war diplomatically but has not yet commented publicly. Amit Segal, a journalist close to Netanyahu, described the interim deal as “total surrender”. Katz said Israel planned to stay “indefinitely” in lands it held in Lebanon, as well as territory seized in recent years in Syria and the Gaza Strip, and would strike Iran with “great force” if it attacked Israel in response to Israeli strikes in Lebanon. There was relative calm in southern Lebanon on Monday. Hezbollah’s attacks on Israeli military targets, both in southern Lebanon ​and northern Israel, stopped just before midnight, and Israel also significantly reduced its attacks, although there were unconfirmed reports of explosions in some southern towns and at least one drone was heard circling above Beirut and its southern suburbs. Military sources in Israel quoted by the Jerusalem Post said that if Hezbollah respected the new ceasefire, Israeli military forces would not attack anywhere in Lebanon . Hezbollah, which has close links with Tehran, ‌has not commented on the deal but has ‌previously said it supported Iran’s efforts for a Lebanon ceasefire. Officials and many commentators in Israel have claimed the dea