Netanyahu says Israel will not withdraw from southern Lebanon

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would remain in a security zone in southern Lebanon “as long as required,” while Defense Minister Israel Katz warned Iran against responding to Israeli military operations there.

Speaking at a ceremony for new combat officers on Thursday, Netanyahu said Israel had shifted from areas it merely controlled to “commanding terrain” in southern Lebanon, including positions near Beaufort, and would not withdraw.

“We are not going to withdraw from it,” Netanyahu said. “We will protect the residents of the north and all Israeli citizens from there.”

Netanyahu said he and Katz had instructed the Israeli military to act freely against any threat to Israeli troops or communities in northern Israel.

Katz was more explicit in linking Lebanon to Iran. He said Israel would not leave its security zones in Lebanon, Syria or Gaza “without a time limit,” despite pressure, and warned Tehran against treating Israeli action in Lebanon as a trigger for wider escalation.

“If Iran attacks Israel because of our actions in Lebanon, or for any other reason, we will attack it with full force,” Katz said, adding that Israel would make clear what he called the gap in power between the two sides.

Netanyahu also repeated Israel’s red line on Iran’s nuclear program, saying that “with an agreement or without an agreement,” Iran would not be allowed to obtain nuclear weapons while he remained prime minister.