Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz announced Sunday that Israeli soldiers operating in Lebanon have unrestricted authority to act against any threats they encounter, with troops continuing to hold their positions in what Israel refers to as a security zone.
A ceasefire agreement with Iran-backed Hezbollah officially went into effect on Friday, following months of intensifying conflict. However, Israeli strikes the very next day — Saturday — resulted in the deaths of at least 20 people in Lebanon, according to Lebanon’s state news agency NNA.
Israel defended those strikes, saying they were carried out in direct response to projectiles launched by the Iran-backed group targeting Israeli troops in southern Lebanon. An Israeli official described the targets of the retaliatory strikes as “Hezbollah targets.”
Meanwhile, Iranian officials indicated that Lebanon is a central topic in Sunday’s peace discussions between Iran and the United States, taking place in Switzerland. Those talks follow a framework agreement signed by Washington and Tehran aimed at ending the war between the two countries, which began at the end of February and had been fueling broader regional tensions.
The Israeli military has moved into portions of southern Lebanon, while Hezbollah maintains it has the right to engage Israeli forces on Lebanese soil, though the group says it will refrain from launching attacks into northern Israel.
Katz confirmed that Israeli forces will stay in all positions within the security zone, which stretches roughly 10 kilometers — about 6 miles — into southern Lebanese territory. Israel says this presence is necessary to safeguard communities in northern Israel.
“All of the IDF’s achievements in the campaign in Lebanon are being preserved, with our forces deployed in the security zone along the Yellow Line in Lebanon and operating from there inward against terrorists and terrorist infrastructures,” Katz stated in his Sunday announcement.
