{"id":493630,"date":"2026-06-15T09:42:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T09:42:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/493630\/"},"modified":"2026-06-15T09:42:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T09:42:13","slug":"israel-vows-to-stay-in-south-lebanon-if-iran-strikes-well-hit-it-with-full-force","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/493630\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel vows to stay in south Lebanon; if Iran strikes, we\u2019ll hit it \u2018with full force’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Defense Minister Israel Katz vowed Monday that the Israeli military will remain in southern Lebanon and warned that if Iran strikes, it will be hit \u201cwith full force,\u201d promising that Israel will resist any pressure after the US and Iran agreed a deal to end the war that also reportedly includes a commitment to end hostilities in Lebanon.<\/p>\n

There was no immediate comment on the deal from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but far-right members of his coalition said Israel would not be bound by the terms of the agreement, while members of the opposition accused the premier of failing Israel\u2019s citizens and betraying the armed forces.<\/p>\n

US and Iranian officials said early Monday that they had agreed on a framework for an agreement to end the war, which is expected to halt the US blockade of Iranian ports, reopen the Strait of Hormuz and begin 60 days of talks on Tehran\u2019s nuclear program. According to Iranian and Pakistani sources, the agreement also includes a ceasefire in the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, the Lebanese terror group backed by Iran.<\/p>\n

Israel, despite having started the war alongside the US, was not involved in the negotiations over the deal, which appears not to achieve the goals of the war that were set out by the US and Israel, including eliminating Iran\u2019s nuclear program, depleting its ballistic missile stockpile, ending its support for terror proxies and creating the conditions for the fall of the regime.<\/p>\n

Israeli military action in Lebanon needs to be completely halted and the US bears responsibility for implementing the framework deal on ending the war, Iran\u2019s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told his Turkish, Iraqi and Egyptian counterparts on Monday in separate calls, according to his Telegram account.<\/p>\n

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However, Katz insisted that Israel will not withdraw from southern Lebanon, where it is battling the Iran-backed Hezbollah \u201cdespite all the existing pressures and those that will still come.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tDefense Minister Israel Katz attends a ceremony at Mount Herzl Military Cemetery in Jerusalem, May 31, 2026. (Oren Ben Hakoon\/Flash90)<\/p>\n

\u201cPrime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and I are leading a clear policy that determines that the IDF will remain in the security zones in Lebanon, Syria, and Gaza, without any time limit, to protect the border and Israeli communities from there against jihadist elements,\u201d Katz said in a statement.<\/p>\n

He said the security zones will be \u201ccleared of local residents, and all terror infrastructure, above and below ground, including the houses in the contact-line villages that served as terror outposts, will be destroyed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will not compromise on Israel\u2019s security interests and the protection of our citizens, and we will not withdraw from the security zones,\u201d Katz said, warning that \u201cif Iran attacks Israel because of the events in Lebanon, we will strike it with full force.\u201d<\/p>\n

Iran last week fired missiles at Israel after the IDF hit targets in Beirut and threatened to do so again on Sunday, before apparently being pressured by the US to hold off amid the finalizing of the agreement.<\/p>\n

News of the agreement was met with angry reactions in Israel on Monday morning.<\/p>\n

Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir attacked the deal, saying in a statement that \u201cTrump\u2019s agreement does not bind us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIsrael is not subordinate to the United States. We are an independent and sovereign country,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are not partners to this agreement, which does not safeguard our security. We must not withdraw from any territory [in Lebanon] that our fighters have captured.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tNational Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir speaks with reporters ahead of his Otzma Yehudit party\u2019s weekly faction meeting in the Knesset, May 25, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel\/Flash90)<\/p>\n

Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said the agreement was \u201cbad for Israel and for the entire free world. Period.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gadi Eisenkot, the leader of Yashar and a rival of Netanyahu in the upcoming election, noted that \u201cthe prime minister refuses to look the public in the eye and answer piercing questions with honesty and truth. Once again, Israeli citizens learn about the deal through reports from foreign leaders.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eisenkot said the agreement is \u201cfar from Israel\u2019s interests.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe residents of the north, who were abandoned for two and a half years, discover this morning that their homes and security remain exposed to threat and that once again their cries were not heard in Jerusalem. We will not leave them on their own,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tGadi Eisenkot, head of the Yashar party, speaks during a conference at Tel Aviv University, May 12, 2026. (Avshalom Sassoni\/ Flash90)<\/p>\n

The left-wing Democrats party chief Yair Golan said the agreement was bad for Israel and cancelled out all of the IDF\u2019s military achievements.<\/p>\n

\u201cTremendous military achievements won through the courage of our pilots and the blood of our fighters were erased, while Netanyahu stood aside \u2014 weak, ill, isolated, and lacking influence,\u201d he said on X.<\/p>\n

Golan, a former deputy chief of the IDF, called the agreement \u201cthe culmination of many years of failure,\u201d with Netanyahu, \u201cthe man who promised \u2018total victory,’\u201d potentially ending his tenure \u201cwith Israel\u2019s enemies stronger, Israel weaker, and the deterrence built with the blood of our fighters eroding before our eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNetanyahu is good for Hamas. Netanyahu is good for Iran. Netanyahu is good for Hezbollah. Netanyahu is not good for Israel,\u201d said Golan.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tThe Democrats chairman Yair Golan speaks during a party conference in Tel Aviv, May 31, 2026. (Avshalom Sassoni\/ Flash90)<\/p>\n

Blue and White chair Benny Gantz, a former defense minister and IDF chief, said the deal was a \u201cstrategic failure,\u201d and it was \u201cforbidden to agree to restrict Israel\u2019s freedom of action in Lebanon or to a withdrawal that endangers the residents of the north.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yesh Atid MK Ram Ben Barak said the agreement was \u201cthe best thing that has happened to Iran in a generation,\u201d while Hadash-Ta\u2019al MK Ahmad Tibi noted that Trump\u2019s \u201cgreatest achievement is to open the Strait of Hormuz, which was open before the war began!\u201d<\/p>\n

The deal, set to be signed on Friday in Switzerland, will formally put an end to the war launched in late February by the US and Israel against the Iranian regime, which subsequently spread across the Middle East.<\/p>\n

The announcement of the deal followed a spike in regional tensions that raised fears of resumed Iranian missile fire on Israel. On Sunday, Israel fired on Beirut in response to Hezbollah attacks on northern Israel. That, in turn, reportedly sparked concern that Iran would retaliate, as it did last week after a previous Israeli strike on Beirut.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tUS President Donald Trump gestures as he boards Air Force One, Monday, June 15, 2026, at Joint Base Andrews, Md. (AP Photo\/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)<\/p>\n

Trump criticized the Israeli strike on Beirut while the negotiations with Iran were in their final stages, and told Axios that Netanyahu \u201chas no fucking judgment.\u201d<\/p>\n

After the deal was announced, he criticized Netanyahu to The New York Times, claiming that Israel should be grateful to the United States.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a very difficult guy,\u201d Trump told the Times regarding Netanyahu, \u201cand to be honest with you, he should be very thankful to us for doing this. Because if Iran had a nuclear weapon, Israel wouldn\u2019t be around for two hours.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Defense Minister Israel Katz vowed Monday that the Israeli military will remain in southern Lebanon and warned that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":493631,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[190560,190507,143010,49,1982,54,955,42,86,2723,837,43,210183,40,38,41,39,22171],"class_list":["post-493630","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-2026-israel-hezbollah-conflict","tag-2026-us-israel-war-with-iran","tag-ahmad-tibi","tag-benjamin-netanyahu","tag-bezalel-smotrich","tag-donald-trump","tag-gadi-eisenkot","tag-headlines","tag-hezbollah","tag-israel-katz","tag-itamar-ben-gvir","tag-news","tag-ram-ben-barak","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-yair-golan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/493630","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=493630"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/493630\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/493631"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=493630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=493630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=493630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}