Report: U.S. Pressing Israel to Pull Back from Southern Lebanon

An Al-Arabiya report said on Sunday that an Israeli official claimed the United States is pressuring Israel to withdraw from southern Lebanon. The reported American demand is tied to ongoing political talks between the sides over the future of the fighting in the north.

A senior political source said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has again made clear that Israeli forces will remain in the security zone for as long as needed to defend the northern border. The source said Netanyahu instructed the military to respond forcefully to any Hezbollah attack and to keep working to remove threats. Over the past two days, Israeli forces struck about 300 terror targets and killed about 100 militants, according to the source. The official added, “If Hezbollah returns to attack us, we will strike it again with force.”

At the same time, official delegations from the United States and Iran began talks in Switzerland on implementing the memorandum of understanding signed last Wednesday. The Iranian delegation is led by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and negotiator Mohammed Baqer Kalibaf, while the American team is headed by Vice President J. D. Vance, with envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner handling the technical talks.

Pakistan has joined the diplomatic effort as a key mediator. Its foreign ministry said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and army chief General Asim Munir traveled to Switzerland for meetings with the U.S. and Iranian delegations, and that Pakistan will continue supporting the memorandum’s implementation.

The talks are taking place against the backdrop of a dispute over the Strait of Hormuz. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards announced the waterway was shut because of “Israeli crimes” in Lebanon and alleged U.S. violations of ceasefire commitments, while U.S. Central Command rejected the claim and said monitoring shows dozens of merchant ships moving normally through the strait and carrying millions of barrels of oil to global markets.