Israeli Defence Minister: No U.S. Demand for Israel to Withdraw from Lebanon

On Wednesday, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz announced that the United States has not requested Israel to pull its forces out of southern Lebanon, a condition that Lebanon has stipulated in current ceasefire talks.

Katz told an audience of local leaders in Tel Aviv that “We have announced that in any case we are not withdrawing and, as of this moment – and this is a diplomatic achievement – there is no American demand for Israel to withdraw from Lebanon.”

When questioned about whether the army would comply with a hypothetical US request, Katz said he had informed US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that they had also told US President Donald Trump that “we are there to protect the residents of the north” of Israel.

During the fifth round of Israel‑Lebanon talks that began in Washington on Tuesday, Lebanese President Joseph A