From the Liveblog of
Thursday, July 9, 2026
Responding to Trump, Katz says ‘we don’t need approval to stay in Lebanon’
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Defense Minister Israel Katz dismisses US President Donald Trump’s assertion yesterday that Israel will pull out of Lebanon.
“We didn’t ask for anyone’s approval to enter Lebanon, and we don’t need approval to stay in Lebanon,” Katz says in a statement.
“It is our right and duty to defend the residents of the Galilee and Israeli citizens from the threats of the jihadist terror group Hezbollah, which aims to destroy the State of Israel,” he says.
“As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and I have clarified, we will continue to stay in the security zone in Lebanon and to act from it as needed, until Hezbollah is disarmed in all of Lebanon and the threat to the residents of the north is removed,” adds Katz.
Trump said yesterday that he thinks Israel will withdraw from Lebanon, even as Netanyahu and others have insisted that the IDF will remain there until Hezbollah has been completely disarmed.
“I talked to Bibi about that. I think they’re going to. I think they want to. They’re getting along with Lebanon, they’re signing deals with Lebanon,” Trump said in response to a question from a reporter during his meeting with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Ankara.
The Times of Israel Community.