Washington’s warning exposes growing rift as Israeli minister openly defies framework commitments, raising fears of permanent land grab
The Trump administration has issued an unusually sharp rebuke to Israeli War Minister Israel Katz after he declared that Israeli enemy forces would maintain a long‑term military presence in occupied southern Lebanon a stance that US officials say directly contradicts binding commitments made by the Israeli government itself.
According to a post by Israeli journalist Barak Ravid, a State Department official delivered the administration’s response, stating that Katz’s remarks are inconsistent with assurances previously given under a US‑brokered framework agreement with Lebanon.
“The United States expects all parties to act in a manner consistent with the Framework they agreed to,” the official said. “Israel clearly stated that it has no territorial ambitions in Lebanon. 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.”
US ‘Allegedly’ Backs Lebanese Sovereignty While Occupation Continues
The US official claimed that Washington “fully supports Lebanon’s territorial integrity and sovereignty,” while outlining a conditional path for Israeli redeployment linked to Hezbollah’s disarmament.
“The Framework clearly includes a conditions‑based path for progressive redeployment tied to verified disarmament of Hizballah and the dismantlement of their infrastructure,” the official said. “The Lebanese Armed Forces are implementing the first pilot zones, and the United States will continue to support full implementation of that process.”
Yet the official’s remarks came precisely as Katz doubled down on a sharply different position. The Israeli minister ordered preparations for an extended military stay, explicitly ruling out withdrawal from occupied areas of Lebanon, Syria, and Gaza directly contradicting Washington’s warning that permanent occupation would breach the agreed so-called framework.
Katz’s ‘Here to Stay’ Declaration Fuels Fears of Lasting Occupation
Katz’s unusually explicit articulation lays bare an Israeli policy increasingly centred on maintaining military control beyond occupied Palestine’s internationally recognised borders, under the flimsy pretext of creating buffer or “security” zones.
Such declarations reinforce long‑standing warnings that Israeli military expansion is not a temporary security measure, but a deliberate effort to entrench occupation and impose new realities by force.
Katz’s declaration that Israeli forces are “here to stay” therefore further undermines Israeli and Western demands that the Resistance relinquish its weapons while occupation forces remain deployed on Lebanese land. The contradiction could hardly be starker.
The language also exposes the material consequences of Israel’s “security zone” policy: Lebanese civilians are displaced from their land, homes are systematically destroyed, and Israeli forces dig in with no stated timeline for withdrawal.
With Washington publicly distancing itself from Katz’s position while still backing the broader framework, the episode raises sharp questions about whether the US can or will hold its ally to its own commitments, and whether the agreement is anything more than a cover for continued occupation by other means.
Source: Agencies (translated and edited by Al-Manar)