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Israel PM Says Troops to Stay in South Lebanon ‘as Long as Necessary’

An Israeli military vehicle moves past destroyed buildings in southern Lebanon as seen from northern Israel, Sunday, June 21, 2026. (AP)
An Israeli military vehicle moves past destroyed buildings in southern Lebanon as seen from northern Israel, Sunday, June 21, 2026. (AP)
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Israel PM Says Troops to Stay in South Lebanon ‘as Long as Necessary’

An Israeli military vehicle moves past destroyed buildings in southern Lebanon as seen from northern Israel, Sunday, June 21, 2026. (AP)
An Israeli military vehicle moves past destroyed buildings in southern Lebanon as seen from northern Israel, Sunday, June 21, 2026. (AP)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that Israeli forces would remain in occupied regions of southern Lebanon "as long as necessary", while also vowing to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. 

"We will remain in the security zone in southern Lebanon for as long as necessary to protect the cherished residents of the north and all the citizens of Israel... Nothing will alter that commitment," Netanyahu said. 

"And with regard to Iran: whatever political developments may unfold, I will not allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapons. As long as I serve as prime minister of Israel, that will not happen." 

Israel's military chief said on Sunday that Hezbollah had suffered a severe blow fighting Israeli forces and was now in a "very difficult position", as he met with troops in southern Lebanon. 

He spoke as the United States and Iran held talks in Switzerland after signing a preliminary agreement to end the broader Middle East war, with the conflict in Lebanon threatening to derail the deal. 

"Hezbollah has suffered a severe and significant blow, and we are committed to remaining prepared to continue operating and prevent its rebuilding," Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir said, according to a military statement. 

"Hezbollah is in a very difficult position," he added. 

Hezbollah had pulled Lebanon into the Middle East war in early March when the Iran-backed Lebanese group fired rockets at Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iran's supreme leader in US-Israeli strikes. 

Despite a new ceasefire announcement on Friday as part of the memorandum of understanding signed by Tehran and Washington, Israel and Hezbollah had continued to clash. 

However, there were no reports of fresh strikes in Lebanon since Saturday evening. 

Zamir vowed to defend the communities of northern Israel from Hezbollah rockets. 

"This is the purpose guiding all our efforts... The ceasefire that has been declared is fragile, and we must maintain a high level of readiness for the renewal of combat operations," Zamir said. 

- Qassem - 

Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem on Sunday rejected any Israeli security zone in Lebanon. 

Israeli troops "remaining on Lebanese land is impossible. There are no security zones for Israel... we have a national army which deploys, and it is responsible for preserving sovereignty, and it is who we cooperate with," Qassem said in a televised address. 

"Israel is an aggressor and must leave. America bears full responsibility," he said, adding that "Israel will not remain in Lebanon, even if it increases its crimes, and we will defend ourselves." 

Qassem's address came as Washington and Tehran held talks in Switzerland after this week signing a preliminary agreement to end the broader Middle East war, which includes a halt to the hostilities in Lebanon. 

Ongoing Israeli strikes in recent days have threatened to derail the deal, but fighting in Lebanon has paused since Saturday evening, after Iran again closed the strategic Strait of Hormuz in response to Israel's attacks on Lebanon. 

"Any ceasefire under the banner of a comprehensive cessation of hostilities -- we have already committed to this if it happens, but we will not accept any violation. We will confront any violation... we will deal with it as we see fit," Qassem said. 

He urged Lebanese authorities to "take advantage of the path of the memorandum of understanding." 

"Look at the great Iran, closing the Strait of Hormuz for the sake of Lebanon. This is a weapon in your hands," he said, addressing the Lebanese authorities, adding, "Take up this weapon and use it." 

Under US pressure, Lebanon in April began direct talks with Israel in Washington aimed at ending the hostilities and separating the Israel-Hezbollah conflict.

Hezbollah has firmly rejected the direct talks, a fifth round of which is due to begin next week. 

Earlier on Sunday, Defense Minister Israel Katz said Israeli forces had standing orders to act against any threat inside Lebanon and insisted they would remain in the so-called security zone established within occupied Lebanese territory. 

"There has never been, and there is currently no restriction on Israeli soldiers in Lebanon from acting to eliminate threats... As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and I have made clear: Israel will not withdraw from the security zone in Lebanon," Israel Katz said in a statement, referring to an area extending roughly 10 kilometers (six miles) into Lebanese territory that Israel is occupying. 

Israeli forces and Hezbollah fighters engaged in fierce clashes this week, with Lebanese officials reporting dozens of people killed and the Israeli military reporting five of its own soldiers dead. 

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Arab World

Netanyahu Says Palestinian Authority in for 'Big Surprise'

Israeli troops patrol in the West Bank city of Nablus, 24 October 2026. EPA/ALAA BADARNEH
Israeli troops patrol in the West Bank city of Nablus, 24 October 2026. EPA/ALAA BADARNEH
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Netanyahu Says Palestinian Authority in for 'Big Surprise'

Israeli troops patrol in the West Bank city of Nablus, 24 October 2026. EPA/ALAA BADARNEH
Israeli troops patrol in the West Bank city of Nablus, 24 October 2026. EPA/ALAA BADARNEH

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the Palestinian Authority (PA) was in for a "big surprise" after he ordered a major military operation in response to an attack on soldiers in the West Bank.

Netanyahu, days ahead of elections, declined to answer directly when he was asked if he would dismantle the Palestinian Authority but said he favored "ruse and surprise.”

"We transformed the Middle East. I said that we would change things and we have," Netanyahu told i24News in an interview conducted late Friday.

"There is a very big surprise for the Palestinian Authority as well."

Netanyahu on Friday promised a massive military response after Palestinian militants killed two Israeli soldiers near Hebron in the occupied West Bank.

One of his far-right allies called after the attack for Israel to bring down the Palestinian Authority, the semi-autonomous body that governs parts of the West Bank in cooperation with Israel as part of peace accords in the 1990s.

No evidence suggests that the PA was connected to Friday's attack.

Arab World

700 Square Kilometers Under Israeli Occupation in Lebanon: What Does the ‘Security Belt’ Mean?

700 Square Kilometers Under Israeli Occupation in Lebanon: What Does the ‘Security Belt’ Mean?
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700 Square Kilometers Under Israeli Occupation in Lebanon: What Does the ‘Security Belt’ Mean?

700 Square Kilometers Under Israeli Occupation in Lebanon: What Does the ‘Security Belt’ Mean?

Israel’s expanding operations in southern Lebanon are raising questions about how much territory its forces actually occupy, and how much they control through surveillance, firepower and the ability to launch attacks from forward positions.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has repeatedly cited an area of roughly 700 square kilometers. But developments on the ground paint a more complex picture: Israeli control varies from troops stationed at fixed positions to mobile incursions and firepower dominance over much wider areas.

Military assessments suggest the area is far from a uniform security belt stretching from the Mediterranean coast to Mount Hermon. Its depth varies sharply across sectors, shaped by terrain, commanding heights and routes of movement.

Israeli troops and military vehicles are stationed in some areas. Others have no permanent Israeli military presence but remain under aerial surveillance or within striking range, allowing forces to operate there without maintaining troops on the ground.

Single Front

Defense and security expert Riad Kahwaji told Asharq Al-Awsat that Israel views Lebanon and the Golan Heights as "a single front" stretching from Mount Hermon to the Mediterranean coast at Naqoura and Bayada, despite crossing two countries.

"From its perspective, Israel is establishing a security belt along its northern border," Kahwaji said, adding that the belt is "no longer confined to areas south of the Litani River but has extended north of it in some locations."

Geography helps explain why.

"The geographical scope has effectively expanded beyond the area south of the Litani, particularly from the direction of Metula, where the river is only about seven kilometers away, compared with roughly 30 kilometers between Naqoura and the Litani," he said.

That difference, Kahwaji explained, means the security belt can extend north of the Litani in some areas without maintaining the same depth across the entire border.

The river, therefore, is not a uniform dividing line between northern and southern operational zones. Distances vary, and geography dictates how far Israeli troops or firepower can reach.

Israeli bulldozers carve roads through the mountainous al-Shaqif region in southern Lebanon (AFP)

Firepower

Kahwaji drew a distinction between occupying territory and controlling it through surveillance and firepower.

He said Israel relies on about 20 military positions, each capable of accommodating a small force, while drones continuously monitor movements deeper inside the area.

"Each position could accommodate a company-sized force, while drones operate continuously farther behind these positions to monitor movements," he said.

"When drones detect movement, it is targeted by artillery or an airstrike. Alternatively, a patrol can be dispatched from one of these positions toward the location where the movement was detected within what is known as the yellow belt."

That, he said, is what control through firepower means.

"It does not require an extensive military presence throughout the entire belt. Instead, it relies on specific military positions, continuous surveillance through drones and firepower, and the ability to target any movement or dispatch a patrol."

The result is a military footprint that extends well beyond the positions troops physically occupy.

From elevated or fortified positions, forces can monitor surrounding roads and towns, strike targets or send patrols without establishing permanent bases in every location.

From the Coast to Beaufort Castle

The pattern is visible across southern Lebanon.

In the west, Israeli operations extend from Naqoura and the coastal sector into areas that have recently faced incursions, demolitions and repeated shelling, including Mansouri and its surroundings.

Farther east, central-sector towns such as Beit Yahoun, Hadatha, Haris and Aita al-Jabal have experienced varying degrees of Israeli military activity or attacks, though the level of troop presence differs.

The reach of operations extends farther inland toward Beaufort Castle and the Ali al-Taher heights.

There, elevated terrain offers commanding views over wider areas toward Nabatieh, Iqlim al-Tuffah and surrounding movement routes.

The result is a zone of control shaped less by a continuous border strip than by strategic elevations and the areas they overlook.

Could Israeli Operations Reach the Awali River?

Retired Brigadier General Fadi Daoud offered a broader assessment of where Israeli operations could extend, arguing that control of high ground may determine the limits of any advance.

"What is clear in southern Lebanon is that the expansion could reach the Awali River. Even if it does not, forces will remain positioned on the heights overlooking the river," Daoud told Asharq Al-Awsat.

He said such a deployment could also encompass Rihan and areas around Jezzine, particularly Kfarhouna.

"The western boundary will be the Awali River," he said, identifying geographical control, especially over commanding heights, as the key factor shaping military movements.

Holding elevated positions, he argued, would allow Israeli forces to dominate lower-lying areas with firepower without maintaining troops throughout them.

"Geographical control will enable Israel to control the western Bekaa from the right flank because it is already present on Mount Hermon. The western Bekaa has effectively become a pocket between Mount Hermon and Rihan," Daoud said.

"Israel will establish positions there to control the Bekaa."

Dense clouds of dust cover the hills of Arnoun and al-Shaqif surrounding Beaufort Castle, as seen from Marjayoun in southern Lebanon (AFP)

The Strategic Heights of Rihan and Iqlim al-Tuffah

Daoud said the potential advance could stretch from Mount Rihan toward the heights of Iqlim al-Tuffah, including Mount Safi.

"It will move from Mount Rihan to the heights of Iqlim al-Tuffah, including Mount Safi, where it will establish control over Hezbollah's stronghold in Iqlim al-Tuffah, as well as Sidon, eastern Sidon and the Awali River," he said.

For Daoud, terrain is the determining factor.

"Geography is fixed, and Israel will follow it," he said, stressing that forces positioned on high ground can control areas below through firepower without deploying throughout them.

He argued that Israeli control of Mount Hermon would leave the western Bekaa militarily exposed as far as Qaraoun.

"Its control of Mount Hermon makes the western Bekaa militarily vulnerable as far as Qaraoun," he said.

Mount Hermon, he explained, overlooks two major areas: the western Bekaa to the west and Daraa in Syria to the east.

Both, he said, "will form pockets" on either side of the mountain.

The two military assessments point to a central distinction in the debate over the 700-square-kilometer area: the territory Israel can monitor, strike or enter is not necessarily territory it physically occupies.

Commanding heights, observation posts, fields of fire and the ability to deploy patrols can extend military control far beyond fixed positions, even as the scale of Israel's actual troop presence varies from one sector to another.

Israeli Drone Strike, Demolitions Hit Southern Lebanon

Meanwhile, Israeli military operations continued across southern Lebanon on Friday.

An Israeli drone struck a roundabout in Kfar Tebnit, in the Nabatieh district, with preliminary reports indicating casualties.

At the same time, Israeli troops carried out two demolitions, one on the outskirts of Kfar Tebnit and another in Mansouri in the Tyre district.

Israeli forces also set fire to wooded areas in Qantara and swept Wadi al-Hujeir with machine-gun fire.

An Israeli drone dropped a stun grenade near Kfarshouba, while low-flying drones were reported over Beirut's southern suburbs, Tyre and surrounding areas.

Arab World

Khartoum Denies Army Role in ‘Abyei Massacre’

UN peacekeeping forces (UNISFA) attempting to extinguish fires in Al-Na'am market in the Abyei area (United Nations - Facebook)
UN peacekeeping forces (UNISFA) attempting to extinguish fires in Al-Na'am market in the Abyei area (United Nations - Facebook)
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Khartoum Denies Army Role in ‘Abyei Massacre’

UN peacekeeping forces (UNISFA) attempting to extinguish fires in Al-Na'am market in the Abyei area (United Nations - Facebook)
UN peacekeeping forces (UNISFA) attempting to extinguish fires in Al-Na'am market in the Abyei area (United Nations - Facebook)

Sudan’s government denied army involvement in a drone strike that killed more than 150 people at a market in the disputed Abyei region bordering South Sudan, according to local reports, as drone warfare intensified across Darfur and Kordofan.

The army, meanwhile, said it had recaptured military positions in Blue Nile state near the Ethiopian border and shot down a drone that crossed into Sudan from Ethiopia.

In a statement issued late Thursday, Sudan’s Foreign Ministry expressed deep regret over the civilian deaths, categorically denying “any connection between the Sudanese Armed Forces and this unfortunate incident.”

Aftermath of the fire that targeted a civilian truck in Abyei market (United Nations - Facebook)

The ministry said the attack bore similarities to atrocities blamed on the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), citing a December 2025 strike on a United Nations peacekeeping headquarters in Kadugli, South Kordofan, that killed peacekeepers, as well as attacks on humanitarian aid convoys.

The denial followed the army’s publication of images on Facebook in recent days indicating it had struck RSF command centers in the area.

An army officer also told the Associated Press that the strikes targeted fuel trucks heading to the RSF, denying that civilians had been targeted. The army leadership has made no official admission of responsibility.

South Sudan’s Foreign Ministry summoned Sudan’s ambassador in Juba to protest the attack, amid growing fears that the war’s fallout could spill across the border.

Peacekeeping forces in Abyei (UNISFA) participating in rescuing victims from Al-Na'am market (United Nations - Facebook)

UN, African Union Condemn Strikes

Oil-rich Abyei remains a flashpoint between Sudan and South Sudan, with sovereignty over the territory disputed since South Sudan’s independence in 2011. A UN peacekeeping force is deployed in the area.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres strongly condemned Monday’s drone attacks on Abyei, which killed dozens of civilians, including women and children, urging Khartoum and Juba to prevent further strikes and uphold the region’s demilitarized status.

African Union Commission Chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf also condemned the attacks, citing local and medical reports of more than 150 deaths.

He urged the warring sides to avoid actions that could inflame the conflict or threaten neighboring countries and reaffirmed support for mediation efforts to secure an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.

Elsewhere, the RSF-led parallel government, known as Tasis, accused the Sudanese army of striking a hospital in El Daein, the capital of East Darfur, with a drone on Thursday, killing three people and wounding dozens, according to its account.

In a statement Friday, Tasis said further airstrikes hit the government secretariat in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur, where the RSF runs its administration of territories under its control.

Pro-army social media platforms reported heavy airstrikes on RSF positions in Nyala, El Daein, El Fasher and parts of West Kordofan.

Local reports said the strikes hit fuel depots and military vehicles in the oil-producing Abu Jabra area of East Darfur, as well as positions in Babanusa, West Kordofan.

A military source cited in the reports said the raids aimed to cripple RSF logistics ahead of possible ground operations.

Image published by the Sudanese Army of a command post belonging to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Abyei (its Facebook page)

Army Reports Gains in Blue Nile

On another front, Sudan’s army said Thursday evening it had retaken Bakori and Aklili in southeastern Blue Nile state near the Ethiopian border after clashes with an alliance of the RSF and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), led by Abdelaziz al-Hilu.

The army’s 4th Infantry Division, based in Damazin, said on Facebook that its troops had “liberated” both areas, inflicting heavy losses on opposing forces.

Bakori holds strategic military importance as the site of a 13th Brigade base along a route to Damazin, the state capital. RSF-allied forces had seized the area in August.

The army also said it had downed a drone it described as “strategic” over Bakori, claiming it had tracked the aircraft from the moment it crossed the Ethiopian border. It said the drone targeted fuel trucks believed to be heading to the RSF.

Sudan has accused Ethiopia of allowing the RSF to use its territory to launch drone strikes and ground operations inside Sudan, allegations Addis Ababa denies.