Israeli Defence Minister says military to remain in South Lebanon amid ceasefire

Jerusalem, June 21 (IANS) Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Sunday that the Israeli army will not withdraw from the “security zone” it holds in southern Lebanon.

Katz affirmed in a statement that the Israeli military would remain at all positions in the security zone, which protects northern Israeli settlements.

He added that there was and is no restriction on Israeli soldiers in Lebanon to act to eliminate threats, Xinhua news agency reported.

Katz said that following Hezbollah attacks on Israeli forces, the army responded forcefully, eliminating many Hezbollah militants and damaging many terror infrastructures.

“Preserving the lives of our soldiers and citizens is the highest and absolute priority,” he stressed.

Meanwhile, US and Iranian negotiators started talks on Sunday at the Buergenstock mountain resort in central Switzerland on implementing a memorandum of understanding signed by the two sides to reach a final deal

The US delegation, led by US Vice President JD Vance, the Iranian delegation, led by the Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, and mediators arrived at the Buergenstock earlier in the day, according to the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA)

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said that the country is determined to pursue the US implementation of its commitments under a recently signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) during the upcoming meeting in Switzerland.

In a post on social media platform X, Baghaei said that the scheduled meeting between Iran and the United States later in the day is aimed at following up on the MoU’s implementation.

He stressed that according to the MoU, the initiation of negotiations between Iran and the United States on a final agreement is conditional upon ending the war on all fronts, including Lebanon, lifting the US naval blockade, reopening the Strait of Hormuz, US issuance of waivers for Iran’s exports of crude oil, petroleum products and derivatives, and releasing Iranian frozen assets.

Without implementing those provisions, especially the one related to ending the war on all fronts, it will not be possible to enter talks on the final agreement, the spokesman stressed.

–IANS

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