At a combat officers’ graduation ceremony at Bahad 1 on Thursday evening, attended by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Israel Katz, and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, Katz said the army would remain in security zones indefinitely to protect Israeli communities from jihadist threats. He called territorial control, evacuating residents, and destroying terror infrastructure the main lesson of the October 7 attack and one of the IDF’s biggest achievements in what he called the “War of Rebirth.”
Katz said the government opposes any withdrawal from Lebanon despite outside pressure, saying the goal is to defend northern towns, neutralize threats, and destroy terror infrastructure both above and below ground. He also stressed that protecting soldiers is a supreme value and said no operational, political, or other constraint justifies unnecessary risk to IDF troops.
He issued a warning to Iran, saying that if Tehran attacks Israel over its actions in Lebanon, or for any other reason, Israel will strike back “with full force” to demonstrate the gap in military power. The remarks came after Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force commander Esmail Qaani said Israel must evacuate all Lebanese territory today or “flee tomorrow.”
Meanwhile, Israeli media reported that Israel is preparing for a partial withdrawal from southern Lebanon. A U.S. State Department source confirmed that IDF forces had begun pulling back from part of the buffer zone as a goodwill gesture, and that the Lebanese army would move into the areas vacated by Israel. But a senior officer said no withdrawal had yet taken place, and a Lebanese military source told Al Jazeera that no Israeli pullback had been recorded and that Israeli troops still held recently occupied areas.
The report said the IDF is expected to complete a withdrawal from part of southern Lebanon in the coming days under understandings reached in Washington, where Israel and Lebanon are negotiating with a U.S. plan under which the U.S. military will train the Lebanese army and ensure those deployed are not Hezbollah members. An Israeli official told Channel 13 that Israel had captured terrain in recent days to use as leverage in talks, and said the pullback would cover only a small area, “a few percent” of the territory. Another U.S. source said Lebanon wants a clear timetable for an Israeli withdrawal and a full ceasefire. Channel 13 also reported earlier this week that Washington’s restrictions on Israel’s freedom of action have tightened, with official instructions limiting IDF operations in Lebanon to the yellow line and immediate threats, while banning action in more distant areas such as Beirut and Tyre.
