Live Update 
From the Liveblog of
Monday, March 9, 2026
From the Liveblog of
Monday, March 9, 2026
Sa’ar to UN’s Lebanon envoy: IDF has to be in Lebanon to protect our citizens
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleLazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar (R) meets UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert in Jerusalem, March 9, 2026 (Shlomi Amsalem/GPO)
The deployment of Israeli troops over the border in Lebanon is necessary to “prevent ground incursions by Hezbollah forces and rocket fire toward Israeli civilians and communities,” Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar tells UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert.
“Hezbollah launched an attack against us, and there is no actor in the international community working to stop it except us,” says Sa’ar, according to his office.
He also says that weakening Hezbollah is a “shared interest” of both Israel and Lebanon.
He stresses that the UNIFIL peacekeeping force is an “obstacle” to IDF operations against Hezbollah.
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