US slams Katz after he boasted that Israel is ‘here to stay’ in southern Lebanon

US President Donald Trump’s administration knocks Defense Minister Israel Katz for declaring earlier today that Israel would remain in southern Lebanon, arguing that his comments fly in the face of Jerusalem’s assurances that it has no territorial ambitions in the country.

“The US expects all parties to act in any manner consistent with the framework they agreed to, and Israel clearly stated that it has no territorial ambition in Lebanon,” a State Department official says in a statement.

“A permanent military presence in south Lebanon is not consistent with the commitments made in the framework or the long-term peace and security of both states,” says the statement sent to querying reporters, which avoids calling out Katz by name.

“The United States fully supports Lebanon’s territorial integrity and sovereignty,” the State Department official continues, noting that the framework deal that Washington brokered between Israel and Lebanon “clearly includes a conditions-based path for progressive redeployment tied to verified disarmament of Hezbollah and dismantlement of their infrastructure.”

“The Lebanese Armed Forces are implementing the first pilot zone, and the United States will continue to support full implementation of that process,” referring to the area in south Lebanon from which the IDF has withdrawn and been replaced by LAF troops.

Visiting southern Lebanon earlier today, Katz declared: “The IDF is here to stay in the security zones in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza to protect the entire State of Israel. I have instructed the IDF to take all the necessary steps to prepare for a long-term presence in the area. As the prime minister and I have made unequivocally clear, we are not withdrawing from this security zone.”

Katz also boasted again of “destroying all the houses” in certain areas, after last month he lauded having systematically flattened several dozen villages in southern Lebanon, which he said contained Hezbollah infrastructure. The comments sparked accusations of war crimes against Katz, who has intensified his rhetoric as elections have approached.