Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to continue Israel’s occupations of Lebanese and Syrian territory, despite the announcement of a ceasefire agreement between the United States and Iran that links to those hostilities.
Netanyahu told a press conference on Monday that Israel’s forces will remain in Lebanon, where it occupies around 570sq km (220sq miles) of territory. Israel’s conflict with the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, has killed more than 3,000 people.
Israel has been involved in a war with Hezbollah since October 2023 and launched cross-border raids in October 2024. This later developed into a full-scale invasion of Lebanon, and Israel now occupies territory beyond the Litani River that runs across southern Lebanon — the official end point of Israel’s self-declared “security zone”.
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