Netanyahu says Israel to maintain 10-km security zone in southern Lebanon during ceasefire

Jerusalem: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that even after the ceasefire with Hezbollah takes effect, Israel will maintain a 10-km security zone in southern Lebanon.

Netanyahu’s videotaped statement followed US President Donald Trump’s announcement of a ceasefire, agreed to by Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, set to take effect at 5 p.m. US Eastern Time (2100 GMT).

The Israeli prime minister noted that he had rejected Hezbollah’s demand for an Israeli withdrawal to the international border, and that Israeli forces would remain in a security zone in Lebanon, Xinhua news agency reported.

He argued that this buffer zone would help prevent “invasions” and anti-tank fire into northern Israeli communities.

Netanyahu also said, “We have an opportunity to make a historic peace agreement with Lebanon,” adding that Trump intends to invite him and Aoun to advance such a deal.

He claimed that this opportunity exists because Israel has fundamentally changed the balance of power in Lebanon, noting that Israel has received calls from Lebanon over the past month for direct peace talks.

The prime minister noted that Israel has two main demands in these talks — the disarmament of Hezbollah and a lasting peace agreement.

Turning to Iran, Netanyahu claimed that Trump told him that he was “tremendously determined to continue both the naval blockade and to dismantle Iran’s nuclear capability, what is left of it.”

He described these as “two very important moves that could fundamentally change our security and political situation for years to come.”

Trump on Thursday announced a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon aimed at bringing a temporary cooling-off along another front linked to the Iran conflict.

He said that after speaking with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun, the two sides agreed to a 10-day ceasefire beginning at 5 p.m. Washington time.

The ceasefire is expected to pause hostilities that escalated when Israel opened a new front targeting Iran-affiliated Hezbollah.

Lebanon is not directly engaged in a formal war with Israel, but Hezbollah controls large parts of southern Lebanon and has carried out attacks on Israel, prompting retaliatory strikes.

IANS