Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz told US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth early on Thursday (16 July) that Israeli forces will remain deployed in the ‘security zones’ set up in Lebanon, Syria and the Gaza Strip.
A statement from Katz’s office said the two ministers spoke by telephone at night, during which Katz set out “Israel’s firm position on maintaining its presence in the security zones of Syria, Gaza and Lebanon.”
He said the decision was to protect Israel’s borders and border communities from the threat of rebel forces.
Katz said: “We have never asked the United States to act on our behalf at our borders.” A report by the US outlet Axios said that a few days earlier, US President Donald Trump had called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to withdraw Israeli troops from Syria and Lebanon.
Citing a US official, Axios said Trump had told Netanyahu that Israel’s troop deployment in Syria was raising tensions in the country. Quoting Trump, the Axios report said: “They don’t want you there. You should deploy your troops elsewhere.” After the fall of Syria’s long-time ruler Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, Israel sent troops into the UN-monitored buffer zone between Israeli and Syrian forces on the Golan Heights.
Since then, Israel has conducted several operations and air strikes on Syrian territory, and has also stated its wish to establish a demilitarised zone in the country’s south.
Israeli forces are still deployed in Lebanon. The military said it was positioned in a security zone extending up to about 10 kilometres inside Lebanese territory.
Lebanon and Israel have no formal diplomatic relations. But after Hezbollah drew Lebanon into a wider Middle East war by attacking Israel last March, the two countries have been holding talks to end the conflict. A fifth round of talks between them concluded in Rome on Wednesday. The US-mediated talks aim to withdraw Israeli troops from Lebanon in stages, starting with two ‘pilot zones’ outside the security zone Israel has declared in the south.
In Gaza, Israeli forces currently control 60 percent of the territory. Israel also has a military presence along the entire outer perimeter bordering Israel and Egypt.
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