The State Department rejected comments by Israel’s defense minister after he said Wednesday that Israeli forces would remain in southern Lebanon, despite Jerusalem’s assurances that it has no territorial ambitions in the country.
During a visit to southern Lebanon, Defense Minister Israel Katz said, according to The Times of Israel, “the IDF is here to stay in the security zones in Lebanon, Syria, and Gaza to protect the entire state of Israel.”
“I have instructed the IDF to take all the necessary steps to prepare for a long-term presence in the area,” Katz said. “The prime minister and I have made unequivocally clear, we are not withdrawing from this security zone."
Katz also said Israeli forces had destroyed homes in certain areas of southern Lebanon and had previously flattened several dozen villages that he said contained infrastructure used by Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorists.
“The U.S. expects all parties to act in any manner consistent with the framework they agreed to, and Israel clearly stated that it has no territorial ambition in Lebanon,” a State Department official said in a statement.
“A permanent military presence in south Lebanon is not consistent with the commitments made in the framework or the long-term peace and security of both states.
"The United States fully supports Lebanon’s territorial integrity and sovereignty."
The official said the U.S.-brokered framework agreement between Israel and Lebanon “clearly includes a conditions-based path for progressive redeployment tied to verified disarmament of Hezbollah and dismantlement of their infrastructure.”
“The Lebanese Armed Forces are implementing the first pilot zone, and the United States will continue to support full implementation of that process,” the official said, referring to the area in southern Lebanon from which the IDF has withdrawn and where Lebanese Armed Forces troops have taken its place.
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