TYRE, JUN 18 (AP): Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that Israel’s military will stay in southern Lebanon, where it has occupied up to 10 kilometres from the border.
The remarks were his first comment since the US-Iran deal was signed. Netanyahu said Israel must “maintain a security zone in southern Lebanon, and it requires that we must not leave there as long as Israel’s security needs require it.”
He has made similar comments in the past about Israel’s refusal to withdraw from southern Lebanon.
The US-Iran deal to end the war in the Middle East, signed overnight, also calls for an end to the war in Lebanon, where Israel has been fighting the militant Hezbollah group, but it’s unclear what that means in practice.
Friday, June 19, 2026